Born in France in 1956 in Saint-Mandé, he started photography at the age of 19, leaving alone, hitchhiking, armed with his camera, in Africa "to discover the world".
At 20, he became an assistant in an advertising studio and, one year later, joined the Interpress agency. He then devoted himself mainly to portraits and film shoots.
The history of humanity attracts him, and the war is a focus. It is only in 1988 with his entry in the Gamma agency, that he will be able to fully exercise his profession of photojournalist. Since then, he has been able to give his point of view on many controversial conflicts in contemporary history with his images.
Freelance photographer since 2009, Noël Quidu continues his photographic work in collaboration with major magazines that show him an unfailing confidence.
In 2004 he exhibited his work in China at the Pingyao Festival and in 2006 at the War Photo Limited in Dubrovnick.
In June 2006, he also participated in two collective exhibitions, one at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the other on the gates of the Jardin du Luxembourg. His photos have been projected and exhibited several times at the Visa pour l'Image festival in Perpignan.
Noël Quidu has been awarded three times at the World Press Photo, for his reports: Fall of Milosevic in Belgrade (2000), Civil War in Ivory Coast (2002), and Civil War in Liberia (2003). He also received the Grand Prix Jean-Louis Calderon of the Angers Festival, the 2nd Prize of the SCAM and the 2nd Prize of the war correspondents of the Bayeux Festival. In 2004, he was nominated for the Care International Prize for Humanitarian Reporting.