FR - BMW values the importance of aesthetics and technological innovation, and supports photography as an original, distinct art form. The Group is strongly rooted in France, including in Chalon-sur-Saône, so the partnership with the Nicéphore Niépce Museum was a logical choice.
This unique, ambitious cultural partnership, set up in 2011, offers an artist’s residency program. Over the past years, the work of the first three prize winners has been showcased to photography professionals and the wider public.

In 2011, Alexandra Catiere was the winner of the first edition. This young Belarusian artist is renowned for the delicacy and intelligence of her work, which successfully combines traditional and avant-garde techniques.
In 2012, BMW supported young French photographer Marion Gronier as she tackled a personal project on the human figure and its masks. Her photos capture the moment when the human mask breaks down and the disembodied face empties itself of all expression.
In 2013, Elise Mazac and Robert Drowilal, the duo Mazaccio & Drowilal has achieved a massive audience through the project « Wild Style » by which explores the imagery of the notion of “wild” in mass culture.
In 2014, Natasha Caruana, a young english artist, project for the BMW Residency searches for the truth behind Love at First Sight or Coup de Foudre - The Lightning Bolt.

BMW is supporting the entire process from creation to production, culminating in the unveiling of the finished works at the Rencontres d’Arles and Paris Photo, and the publication of a book and and a video illustrating the creative process and the universe of the winning photographer.

Residency 2015 : from Monday 7th September to Friday 27th November 2015

Wednesday 15th April 2015 : Deadline for receipt of applications

Call for application available here.

Calling for applications for the 2016 BMW Residency at the musée Nicéphore Niépce

Call for applications here

For the sixth year running, BMW Art & Culture is calling for applications for the BMW Young Photographer-in-Residency programme at the musée Nicéphore Niépce giving where an artist is given the chance to work on a photographic project over a three-month stay in Chalon-sur-Saône.

The BMW Residency gives carte blanche to the winning artist. The idea is to foster experimentation, encourage research into new modes of expression and new photographic paths. It provides long term support and a long-lasting links between the winners and BMW France. The programme constitutes a real adventure based on shared values.

Following on from previous winners such as Alexandra Catiere, Marion Gronier, Mazaccio & Drowilal, Natasha Caruana and Alinka Echeverria, François Cheval, curator of the musée Niépce and his entire team will accompany the new awardee throughout the project from September 5th to December 2^nd  2016.

A selection of the work produced during the residency will be shown at two major events dedicated to photography in France partnered by BMW: Les Rencontres d’Arles et Paris Photo. A book published in tandem with the Trocadéro publishing house will unveil all of the pieces created during the programme. It will add to the “BMW Art & Culture” collection that was set up with the publisher since the start of the residency. Finally, a film illustrating the winner’s creative journey and universe will be made by François Goizé and presented during the exhibition.

To enable the winner to create freely, the awardee will receive a grant of 6 000 € and the accommodation will be covered in Chalon-sur-Saône for the three months of the Residency.

Applications must include a biography, a presentation of the artist’s general approach, a series of prints and finished works as well as an outline of the artistic project planned for the residency. They should be sent by post to the musée Nicéphore Niépce before April 15th 2016.