"Marbet" Photograph

Matthieu Paley is a French photographer. Since first arriving in Asia in 1998, Matthieu Paley has spent upwards of four years living, exploring and photographing the remote mountainous regions of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. During this time, he has also immersed himself in the culture and language of the indigenous tribal peoples of this region, and is conversant in Wakhi, Tajik and Urdu. By returning repeatedly to these remote regions and over time building friendships and trust with these nomadic and indigenous communities so isolated from the outside world, Paley has been rewarded with photographs captured with the sensitivity of an accepted insider.

A frequent speaker on the lecture circuit in Asia and at Mountain Festivals in Europe, North America and Asia, Paley's work has been published widely in numerous publications including GEO, National Geographic Adventure, Time, Outside, Discovery, Vanity Fair, Le Figaro and Le Monde. Paley has collaborated on numerous books and recently he has completed Serko, a book about Dimitri Peshkov's amazing horseback journey 9,000km across Russia in the winter of 1889-90, published by leading French publication house, Editions du Chêne.

In parallel with his travels, Matthieu Paley is also involved with various NGO projects providing support and development to the regions he visits including the Aga Khan Foundation, Focus Humanitarian and the World Conservation Union.

Matthieu Paley's work has been exhibited in galleries in France (La Gacilly, Yves Rocher Foundation), New York, Hong Kong and Munich as well as festivals including the Perpignan Photojournalism Festival, Visa Pour L'image and the Banff Mountain Festival, where he won the Mountain Photography Competition - Mountain Culture in 2009.