PHOTOGRAPHY & ART DIRECTION
FRENCH COWBOY is born of the shared love of Julien Crouigneau and Mia Macfarlane of photography.
MIA MACFARLANE
Mia Macfarlane was born in Durban, South Africa, and spent her formative years in Sweden and the USA. She studied General Fine art at MICA with a semester at SACI in Florence and got her Masters degree through a joint program between ENSCI in Paris and The London College of Communication. Before submersing herself in photography she was a painter and mixed media artist. She has exhibited her work in galleries throughout Europe and the United States including the renowned “Espace Pierre Cardin”, the “Galerie Nesle” in Paris, France and the “Bruce Lurie Gallery” in LA, USA.
JULIEN CROUIGNEAU
Julien Crouigneau was born in Grenoble, France and spent his youth in Algeria, Madagascar, Nice, and Cassis before moving to Paris in high school. He studied product & graphic design at the Industrial Design Superior School in Paris. Julien started his career as a designer for Philippe Starck all while being the art director of two magazines; one about design, INTRAMUROS, and one on trendy culture, KEITH. He has designed beauty products for many of the biggest cosmetic brands including l’Oreal Paris, Maybelline New York, Christian Louboutin, Lancome, Shu Uemura, Helena Rubinstein ...
Julien and Mia met fleetingly in 2002 and had one memorable lunch together. Years and life went by but they never forgot one another so when they had the chance to meet again in 2012 they held on. Ever since their love for each other has grown with their passion for creating together as photographers.
EXHIBITIONS
"LE SUD" Solo Show, ROUCHON, Paris October 21 -February 2 2021
"LE SUD" Solo Show, IRK GALERIE, ARLES JULY 8-AUGUST 8 2021
"SOCK-IT" GROUP SHOW BLACKS, LONDON, JULY 2021
“BEAUTALISM” GROUP SHOW, VICTORIA HOUSE FEB 2020
“POP CORNER” GROUP SHOW, GALLERIE ANNE ET JUST JAECKIN, PARIS JAN 23 - FEB 16
"BRAND NEW", WINDOW FRANCE, JAN 31- 2019 JAN 31 2020
GROUP SHOW, BLACKS, LONDON, SEPT 11-20 2019
GROUP SHOW, RUNWAY GALLERY, LEADS, MARCH 1-30 2019
GROUP SHOW, ARTUP LILE, LILE, February 20-MARCH 03 2019
"ALONE" FOTO FEVER and SALON DE LA PHOTO PARIS NOV 2018
“CAFE DE FLORE” GALLERIE ANNE ET JUST JAECKIN, PARIS OCT 2016-JAN 2017
“SOCK-IT” L’ATELIER 55, MEGÈVE, DEC 2016-FEB 2017
MULTIPLE WORKS, NORDIC LIGHT FESTIVAL, NORWAY MAY-SEPT 2017
“SOCK-IT” L’ATELIER 55, SAINT TROPEZ, MARCH-SEPT 2017
“YOUNG COWBOY”, “NATIVE” “SOCK-IT”, FOTOFEVER, PARIS NOV 2016
ACCOMPLISHMENTS & AWARDS
WINNER NORMAL FASHION NUDE COMPETITION
CREATIVE DIRECTORS & EDITORS IN CHIEF IRK MAGAZINE
NORDIC LIGHT GUESS ARTISTS
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
INTERVIEW - THOMAS WARNER PROJECTS PODCAST
INTERVIEW- FASHIONCAST PODCAST
“ALMOST HUMAN”- OPERA MAGAZINE
“ALONE” NORMAL MAGAZINE
“ANIMAL ANATOMY” - ANARCHIST
“BIZARRE IS GOOD, NO?” - ANTONYM MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW - BEAUTIFUL HOMES
INTERVIEW - LIVING TC MAGAZINE
IRK MAGAZINE ISSUES 1-10
“NORDIC DAUGHTERS” REVIEW - LEMONTREND
“SOCKIT” REVIEW - PICTO
“NORDIC DAUGHTERS” REVIEW - FASHIONHARP
“CAFE DE FLORE” EXHIBITION PRESS // VOGUE PARIS, FIGARO, MADAME FIGARO, HUFFINGTON POST, PICTO...
FRENCH COWBOY
A Mia Macfarlane & Julien Crouigneau Creation
French Cowboy was born of the shared love of Mia Macfarlane and Julien Crouigneau of photography in 2012. The artist couple have a strong desire to create photographs enriched by storytelling, iconic visuals, and strong artistic direction. They often use fashion photography as a pretext to create art but are also versed in mysterious landscapes, objects, and nudes. Their Epic stories are captivating and over time the spectator discovers layers of humor, melancholy and hidden tension. As fashion photographers they have created editorials with fashion houses such as Schiaparelli at L’Opera de Paris and Jean-Paul Gaultier in the streets of Paris along with numerous other editorials for “IRK”, “Vogue Italia”, “The Opéra”, “Animal Anatomy”, “Antonym”… These photographs along with more traditional representations of landscapes and nudes have comprised their career as exhibiting artists in London, New York, and Paris.
French Cowboy were guest artists and speakers at the Nordic Light Photography Festival. Their photographs were published in the photography book “The Fashion Image”, a reference book amongst Mario Sorrenti, Inez and Vinoodh, Bruce Weber and Richard Avedon and will be included in the next book “The Art Image”. They have had exhibition reviews in numerous magazines including Vogue, Madame Figaro, Huffington Post and more. They are also the winners of the Normal Fashion Nude competition.
July 2021 they had a solo show "Le Sud" during Rencontre Arles in the south of France that was sponsored by WhiteWall. They also had their first book "Le Sud" published by Loup de Steppes. Currently, the exhibition is being exhibited at the oldest commercial studio in Paris, Rouchon.
EDUCATION MIA
1999 MASTERS OF ARTS INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA,
LONDON COLLEGE OF PRINTING
PARIS, FRANCE & LONDON, ENGLAND
1997 BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (BFA)
MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (USA)
1996 SEMESTER ABROAD
STUDIO ART CENTER (SACI)
FLORENCE, ITALY
EDUCATION JULIEN
1993 - BAC +4 PRODUCT & GRAPHIC DESIGN,
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SUPERIOR SCHOOL PARIS, FRANCE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS JULIEN CROUIGNEAUDESIGNER BEAUTY PRODUCTS (LOUBOUTIN NAIL POLISH) ATELIER PASCALIE 2015ART DIRECTOR KEITH MAGAZINE 2007-2012ART DIRECTOR INTRAMUROS MAGAZINE 2001-2011CREATIVE DIRECTOR THOMSON MULTIMEDIA 1993-2008DESIGNER PHILIPPE STARCK 1994-1999GRAPHIC IDENTITY MUSEUM OF MODERN ART MERCIAN, JAPAN
EXHIBITIONS MIA MACFARLANE
WONK, BROOKLYN, NY 2007 & 2008
SOHO GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 2005 & 2006
IMAGINE FESTIVAL, “JAM PAINTING”, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 2004
BAKERY ART EXHIBITION, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 2004
3XSART GALLERY, PARIS, FRANCE 2004
GALLERY AUX ARTS, PARIS, FRANCE 2003
ESPACE PIERRE CARDIN, PARIS 2002 & 2003
ATELIER FRANCO RUSSE, “JAM PAINTING”, NICE, FRANCE 2003
NESLE GALLERY, “JAM PAINTING”, PARIS, FRANCE 2002
MASSEN GALLERY, NETHERLANDS 1999
BERNANOS GALLERY, PARIS, FRANCE 1998
CORPUS CHRISTY GALLERY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 1997