In a meticulous five-year investigation, supported by archival documentation, court files, personal letters, company memorabilia and photographs, Mathieu Asselin presents the reckless history of growth of the global biotechnology corporation Monsanto. Best-known as the leading manufacturer of insecticides and genetically engineered seeds, Monsanto’s practices and products have caused devastating human, ecological and economic impacts throughout the company’s long history.

Asselin conducted extensive research, travelling through Vietnam and the United States to find people and places dramatically affected by the products manufactured and sold by Monsanto. In this hard-hitting documentation, Asselin exposes the global company’s practices and their cynical efforts to change their negative public image through children’s TV shows and marketing campaigns. For his presentation, he wanted to evidence the next chapter of the Monsanto saga, something he was not able to include in the book.

BIOGRAPHY
Mathieu Asselin works and lives between Arles, France and New York City. He began his career working on film productions in Venezuela, but shaped his photography practice in the United States. His work mainly consists of long-term investigative documentary projects, such as his latest book Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation, which received international acclaim, winning the Kassel FotoBook Festival Dummy Award in 2016 and the Aperture Foundation First Book Award in 2017, and being shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2018. Asselin’s work has recently been exhibited at Les Rencontre d’Arles in France, the Photographer’s Gallery in London, Fotomuseum Antwerp in Belgium and the European Parliament in Strasbourg.