Martine Fougeron

Martine Fougeron (born 1954) is a French‑American photographer whose empathetic portraits explore youth, identity, and the passage to adulthood. Born in France, she studied political science at the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris before earning a degree from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. After two decades as a creative director in the perfume industry, she turned to photography full‑time and relocated to New York City, where she has worked since 2015.

In 2005 Fougeron began photographing her sons, discovering in their private moments a nuanced beauty that became the heart of her practice. Expanding the project into “Tête‑à‑Tête,” she captured teenage boys in both everyday and transgressive acts—from playing with a dog by the Hudson River to lighting matches in dimly lit rooms—revealing the emotional complexity of coming of age. Her work has earned her a place on Photo District News’s “30 Emerging Artists to Watch” list and first prize in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Photography Portfolio Competition. Through her intimate, painterly images, Fougeron invites viewers into the delicate threshold between childhood and adulthood, where innocence and rebellion coexist.