Cofounder of Agence M.Y.O.P. (2005), photographer and director of the agency (2009-2015), Lionel Charrier is now the director of photography for the French newspaper, Liberation.

He was the founder and the co-artistic director of the Tbilisi Photo Festival until 2014. Launched in 2010 in partnership with the Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, it became the most important photo event of the Caucasus. He is also the co-founder of the Europe House in Georgia, dedicated to easing relationships between Europe and Georgia via cultural events.

His photographic work is influenced by photojournalism and documentary story-telling. He began his career as a photo editor at Magnum Photos in 2000, before picking up the camera as an independent photographer. A regular contributor to Liberation and the NGO Caritas France, he has covered social and political subjects in France and overseas. His work also appears in the French and international press (Le Monde, La Vie, L’Express, Elle, El Pais, La Presse, L’Hebdo de Lausanne and De Standaart Magazine etc).

He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Superieure Louis Lumiere in 2000, and now teaches photojournalism courses there.

His photographic archives are available on M.Y.O.P. website.