Through his camera lens, photographer Gérard Uféras offers a rarified backstage pass to the world’s top operas, ballets and fashion shows. Described as a storyteller and magician, Uféras shoots contemporary, figurative photographs that evoke sensuality, mystery, elegance and grace, with a rich sense of humanism.
Born in Paris, in 1954, Uféras was introduced to photography at the tender age of eight, when he began using his father’s cameras. At 11 years old, he was a regular visitor to Paris’s museums, soaking in all aspects of the arts, culture and history.
Although Uféras’s passion for photography began at an early age, it wasn’t until he was 28 — when he was working in a retail shop selling jeans — that he decided to pursue it as a professional career. “I simply didn’t know what I was doing with my life,” he has said. “For a few years at that point, I had a job that didn’t bring me any joy. . . . I realized that if I don’t do something to change my life, I will die working in that shop, so it was really a ‘matter of life’ decision.”
Despite being largely self-taught, Uféras’s natural photographic talent soon caught the eyes of French newspaper editors. He began his career as a photojournalist in 1984, working for the daily Libération, and in 1986, he became a founding member of the VU photo agency. Then, in 1988, Uféras’s watershed moment came when he was invited backstage to photograph at The Palais Garnier. Since then, he has captured stunning portraits and still-lifes at opera houses and ballet performances across Europe.
Similarly, Uféras has been given carte-blanche access to major fashion houses such as Givenchy and Dior, resulting in beautifully shot, candid photographs of unposed models.
Throughout his career, Uféras’s black-and-white and color photographs have been featured in numerous international publications, including Le Monde, the New York Times, Beaux Arts magazine, Paris Match and L’Express. His works are in the collections in several major museums, such as The National Gallery in London, the Musée de l’Elysée (Photo Elysée) in Lausanne, the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
On 1stDibs, find a range of Gérard Uféras photography.
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'opéra Glyndebourne Festival Opera 3 - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This formal yet subtly theatrical photograph by Gérard Uféras captures a gathering of guests inside an elegant Glyndebourne interior. Seated and standing figures are arranged before ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'opéra, Glyndebourne Festival Opera I - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This elegant black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras shows a man standing in a doorway or entrance area, holding a hat behind his back while speaking on the phone. The surroundin...
Silver Gelatin
Fiona Kim, Anneeger Stumphius, Denise Hector - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
Fiona Kim, Anneeger Stumphius, Denise Hector, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, England, 1991, Un Fantôme à l’Opéra In this lively backstage scene from Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Gérar...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme á L'Opéra, English National Opera - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this witty and visually rich photograph, Gérard Uféras captures a dress form in a costume workshop at the English National Opera. The mannequin, dressed with fabric, stockings, an...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme á L'Opéra, English National Opera III - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This haunting black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras shows two shadowed figures in hats, their bodies softened by blur and darkness. The image suggests a backstage corridor or t...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme á L'Opéra, English National Opera I - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this dramatic black and white photograph, Gérard Uféras captures a performer on a painted stage set at the English National Opera in London. The tilted architecture, shadowed figu...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscou - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this elegant black and white photograph, Gérard Uféras captures a young spectator seated in the ornate interior of the Bolshoi Theatre, looking through a viewing glass toward the ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscou VIII - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This poignant black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures a group of young performers backstage at the Bolshoi Theatre. Their faces, costumes, and close arrangement create a...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscou VII - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this character-rich backstage portrait, Gérard Uféras photographs two performers seated in costume at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. One figure holds a trumpet and wears a helmet-...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Bayerische Staatsoper - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this striking black and white composition, Gérard Uféras turns a polished floor and passing figures into a study of shadow, rhythm, and architectural light. The image captures the...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie IV - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this atmospheric photograph, Gérard Uféras captures the Arena di Verona under rain, where umbrellas, wet seats, and attentive spectators create a richly textured visual field. A m...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie III - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures a seated couple in the foreground of the Arena di Verona, surrounded by a vast and softly blurred audience. Their close post...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie II - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this touching image from the Arena di Verona, Gérard Uféras photographs a couple in rain ponchos, one seated and carefully adjusting the other’s collar. The vast arena and weather...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie I - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This dynamic black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures the audience at the Arena di Verona, turning the spectators themselves into a theatrical spectacle. Women peer throu...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled - Gérard Uféras, Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This striking black and white image by Gérard Uféras captures two elegantly dressed women standing before a luminous window, their matching silhouettes framed by heavy drapery and cl...
Silver Gelatin
$1,713
Théâtre royal de la Monnaie, Bruxelles 1991, Limited Edition Fine Art Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
Gérard Uféras’ “Théâtre royal de la Monnaie, Bruxelles, Belgique, 1991, Un Fantôme à L’Opéra” is a poetic work of limited edition fine art photography that captures the quiet precisi...
Silver Gelatin
Piano Legs, Scala - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
Beneath the imposing structure of a grand piano, a quiet moment of repose unfolds - captured with striking precision by Gérard Uféras in “Piano Legs, Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company...
Archival Pigment
Monsieur Laforge, maître de choeurs - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
A fleeting gesture, suspended between instruction and emotion, defines this remarkable photograph by Gérard Uféras, captured in 1990 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Rather than docum...
Archival Pigment
Gran Teatre del Liceu I, Barcelone - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
Dynamic, expressive, and rich in atmosphere, this compelling black-and-white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures a vivid backstage moment at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona i...
Archival Pigment
$1,713
A Day in the Museum XVI, Musée de Louvre - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
A day in the museum is about more than encountering some of the most famous and fascinating works of art - it is about the quiet, deeply personal act of looking. In this compelling p...
Archival Pigment
$1,713
A Day in the Museum XXXIII, Grand Palais - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
A day in the museum is about more than some of the most famous and fascinating pieces of art. In this series French photographer Gérard Uféras examines the practice of going to the m...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Christian Dior Prêt à Porter automne/hiver 2000/2001 - Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
Closeup of a Model in a Dior Skirt, Fur Jacket and Boots and Rings spelling DIOR, photographed by Gérard Uféras at the Autumn/Winter Show in Paris, 2000-2001. All prints are limited...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
L'ange du Saint Francois, Salzburger Festspiele - Limited Edition Fine Art
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This black-and-white photograph by Gérard Uféras, created during the Salzburger Festspiele in Salzburg, Austria, captures a quiet backstage moment shaped by atmosphere, structure, an...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Salzburger Festspiele #1 - Austria - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This photograph by Gérard Uféras, created in 1996 in Salzburg, Austria, captures a moment defined by atmosphere, composition, and a strong sense of place. Known for his refined appro...
Archival Pigment