Born the 6^th of March 1971 in Lausanne                                          

I began my photographers’ career after coming back from Nicaragua. Central America was the place where I worked during three years as volunteers in humanitarian projects. Later, I became part of Strates Agency in Lausanne, Switzerland, where I worked as freelance photo-reporters. With a colleague, we set up a  project called “East of a New Eden”, a documented journey on the external border of the European Union. This story became very successful and was exhibited all over the world. I work for various magazines and newspapers such as Business Week, Die Zeit, Libération or Le Temps.

I studied journalism and worked on a personal story on minorities in Central American prisons. After being awarded by a Fulbright grant, I went to study moviemaking in New York during one year. I then worked on documentary shootings in Ivory Coast and India and I continue to work as a freelance writer and photographer making reportages in different countries.

Yann Mingard and Alban Kakulya began their careers in photography after returning from Nicaragua. It was in Central America where they first met and worked together during three years as volunteers in humanitarian projects. Later, they became part of Strates Agency in Lausanne, Switzerland, working as freelance photojournalists. Alban and Yann have had their photography published in various magazines and newspapers, and their work has been exhibited throughout Europe and in the U.S. In 2003, they received the very first Prix Fnac Européen de la Photographie (Fnac European Prize for Photography) for the “East of a New Eden” project. Alban studied journalism and worked on a personal project on minorities in Central American prisons. Yann specialized in Central Asia and participated in a walking expedition through the desert in Xinjiang, China. Alban later studied filmmaking on scholarship in New York for a year, afterwards working on documentary projects in Ivory Coast and India. He continues as a freelance writer and photographer working on projects in various countries. Yann has worked in a number of regions of Central Asia and has completed projects in the Tuva Republic and the Kazakhstan oil industry. Exploring a very personal photographic style, he often can be found with his camera at first light. In 2008, his work was exhibited in a show organized by Raymond Depardon. Having left the Strates Agency, Alban Kakulya and Yann Mingard continue to work on diverse projects, both together and separately.