About
August 27, 2014
“I love working with people. This is why I became a photographer. I like to make everyone feel comfortable so they look natural and confident as their true selves.”
Jonathan
French-American photographer Jonathan Charpentier (JC) moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA in 2015.
Jonathan’s passion is to help business owners grow their business by delivering a clear visual identity. He provides recommendations and multiple options on how to use photography to communicate your unique message. Jonathan provides award-winning images for your marketing + communication strategy for either print or online publications.
Since 2002, Jonathan’s work has been featured in exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, and now the Twin Cities. He participated in the Edina Art Fair in 2017, and his work has been featured in various local shops and restaurants. Jonathan was featured as one of the Top 5 Minnesota Photographers to follow on Instagram by CBS News Minnesota, after a short 5 months in the U.S. You may check out that article: Best Minnesota Photographers to Follow on Instagram.
JC speaks French, English, and a little bit of German and Russian. He’s now learning Hindi, Bengali, and Spanish to expand his network of clients and friends all around the world.
CBS News:”Jonathan Charpentier is a very compelling artist and a proven international photographer.”
Jonathan is honored to be the lead photographer for the Medal of Honor Convention Twin Cities, where he worked with Target Corporation, U.S. Bank, United Healthcare, American Airlines, Delta, APi Group, Mortenson Construction, Medtronic, EcoLab, and 3M. He is also the main event photographer for Alliance Française Mpls/St. Paul.
Prior clients include Porsche Minneapolis, Medal of Honor Convention Twin Cities, Alliance Française Minneapolis, Uptown VFW, Nology Networks, Cascade Stone, Connect to Buy, Ambassadors for Business Northland, Renault, Rothschild, Cosmétique Magazine, le Cirque Pinder, Paris City Town Hall, Gold River Studios of Minneapolis, Salon SIEL de Paris, and L’Américain (as well as many other French short films). Of course, he also does portrait photography for families and weddings.
Sophie Blachet, lawyer, coach, author, director of the Gallery Art Vitam in Miami and Paris says, “Jonathan Charpentier is a professional photographer who has full proficiency in his work. His natural kindness with people makes him be an indispensable event photographer!“
Jonathan has more than 20 years of experience since he started his first assignments in France in 2000. He specializes in commercial photography as a portrait and business headshot photographer and excels at event photography because he’s personable, open-minded, naturally curious, and communicative. His talents seem limitless as he is praised by his peers and clients worldwide. Throughout his career, he worked in 5 areas of expertise:
- BUSINESS Headshot, Commercial, Product, and Lifestyle photography
- EVENT photography for businesses, non-profit organizations, all events: Corporate events, Anniversary, Product Launch, Conference, Artist performances, Music concerts, Fashion shows, Sports events, Cinema/ Movies (on-set photographer)
- FAMILY photography: Pregnancy, Baby, Family Reunion, Senior, Engagement, Weddings (Destination & Elopement)
- FINE ART Photography: nature and cityscapes from all around the world, as well as street photography
- EDUCATION Photography Workshops, with 5 types of classes: nature, event, family, business, and society (humanitarian work). Jonathan has been teaching since 2008. He’s currently working on his first phone photography workshop!
CONTACT Jonathan now!
Jonathan loves tea and coffee. Jonathan is quite busy with his business and nonprofit responsibilities. Make sure to grab a drink with him before he goes to another adventure abroad in May 2024!
Now you have experienced JC’s corporate resume, here’s a more personal introduction.
Une nouvelle définition de la photographie
Before he moved to the US, Jonathan’s French business card promoted “a new definition of photography”
Jonathan Charpentier (JC) is a 38-year-old French-American photographer and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. From 2002 to 2004 he studied at EFET photography school of Paris. Helped by his mentor Jean-Marie Aragon (Les Frigos, Paris), he opened his official photography business in 2002. Jonathan has been internationally published, worked for 11 movies, and been featured in art exhibitions worldwide.
His main passions outside his business are meditation, social work, exploring nature and animals, singing as he was trained as an opera singer in the early 2000s, and now learning the guitar with his brother Frédéric Charpentier who created La Méthode Zéro at the EFMA: l’Ecole de l’Epanouissement par la Formation Musicale et Artistique.
Jonathan wants to build a bridge between people, businesses, and nonprofits from all around the globe to make the world a better place. Since 2002 Jonathan worked with The Red Cross and other NPOs. In 2012 Jonathan went deeper into his social work, meditation, and self-realization journey with Sunyogi Umasankar’s basic workshop in Paris/ Saint-Prix, France. The 2013 French advanced course led him to go to India for a 40-day medical camp and acupressure workshop at the Universal Peace Centre Trust (UPCT) Ashram in Lachhipur, West Bengal, India.
Doing traditional Seva (Sanskrit: selfless work for the benefit of society) Jonathan gave birth to the French branch of the UPCT in 2015 (Association Sunyoga France) as well as its American branch (Sunyoga America) in 2019. Jonathan spent 3 months with Sunyogi Umasankar traveling in India, Malaysia, and France to assist with educational workshops and the 2019 Universal Peace Conference in Ferrette, France, at the border of Switzerland and Germany.
In March 2020 the pandemic crisis started raising global health and financial questions. Since then Jonathan has been studying decentralized finance, blockchain, and trading. Working with an international team including people from +32 countries, Jonathan’s goal is to help fund and build the GFH University.
Join the GFHU! The blueprint is a 6000-year-old philosophy called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Maha Viswavidyalaya, or Global Family Home University (GFHU). It includes food production, (left photo: rice fields), clothing, construction, health system, basic school, and advanced education, where everything is an ecosystem for long-term sustainability. For example, the orphanage and elderly home are under the same roof, so they can support each other as an ecosystem, in a symbiotic relationship. We are now only at the early stages. Help from volunteers from all around the world is welcome.
From now on, Jonathan plans to return to France and Bharat (Bharat is the original name of India). As an international coordinator, his purpose is to help in growing and nurturing the UPCT family tree, so we can complete the GFHU. Long term, his ideal plan is to move to Bharat in June 2024 and become a citizen of the civilization of Bharat. Thus, he may be a triple citizen of France, the USA, and Bharat. Why? Because we have to go to the source of humankind’s wisdom to implement it in today’s world. Furthermore, we need to stop our selfish nonsense, and start working together for long-term goals. We are now leveraging people’s talents in a synergetic effort.
Learn more about Jonathan’s philosophy here in his last talk during the 2022 Universal Peace Conference:
📸 5 Angles To Find Peace with Photography 🏵
Jonathan’s presentation is in 5 chapters:
●🏞 NATURE (04:02 – 06:17)
●💃 EVENTS (06:17 – 08:24)
● 🎎 FAMILY (08:24 – 11:17)
● 🛩 BUSINESS (11:17 – 14:20)
● 🌉 SOCIETY (14:20 – 24:10) (We kept the best for the end!)
