Vincent Munier

Vincent Munier (born 14 April 1976) is a French wildlife photographer and documentary filmmaker. Among his most notable works are his photographs of arctic wolves and snow leopards. He co-directed a film about snow leopards, The Velvet Queen, which received the César Award for Best Documentary Film.

Life and work Vincent Munier was born on 14 April 1976 in Épinal in Vosges, northeastern France. He began to photograph animals in the Vosges forests and mountains at the age of twelve, aided by his father. Upon graduation from high school, he dedicated himself to wildlife photography and started traveling in remote corners of the world chasing wild nature. For several months, he followed a flock of cranes in their migration journey. This experience resulted in his first book, Le Ballet des grues, published in 1999. As an inspiration to his work, he referred to Michio Hoshino and Jim Brandenburg. Munier received the Eric Hosking Award in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He was the first photographer to receive this award three times.

He is known for photographing in snow, which he likes due to the lighting associated with it, how it omits non-essential details from the image and the fact that animals manage to live in remote and harsh environments. Notable are his photographs of arctic wolves on Ellesmere Island in Canada, which he took during six years of expeditions, and became the basis for his photo-book Arctique (2015).

His quest to photograph snow leopards began in 2011 and involved six trips to Tibet before he first encountered the animal in 2016. The Velvet Queen was screened at numerous film festivals around the world, including the Cinéma for the Climate selection at Cannes, and won the César and the Lumière Awards for the Best Documentary.

As of 2024, Munier is working on his second feature, Whispering in the Woods.

Selected publications Bibliography adapted from France Inter. Le Ballet des grues, with Alain Salvi, 2000 Le Loup, with and Julie Delfour, 2003 Tancho, with , 2004 L'Ours, with Philippe Huet, 2005 Blanc nature, with Lysiane Ganousse, 2006 Clair de brume: Regards sur les Vosges, text by Laurent Joffrion, 2007 Kamtchatka: La vie sauvage aux confins du monde, text by Anna Konevskaya, 2008 Au fil des songes, with Michel Munier, text by Charlélie Couture, 2010 De crépuscules en crépuscules, text by Pierre Pelot, 2011 Arctique, 2015 Tibet: promesse de l'invisible, 2018 Tibet: Minéral animal: sur les traces de la panthère des neiges, text by Sylvain Tesson, 2018

Filmography The Velvet Queen (2021) Whispers in the Woods (2024)