221 - Richard Kalvar
© Richard Kalvar
Ambiguity is at the forefront of Richard Kalvar’s photography. Richard, who describes context as the “enemy”, seeks mystery and multiple meanings through surprising framing and meticulous timing. He describes his approach as “more like poetry than photojournalism – it attacks on the emotional level.”
Richard has done extensive personal, assignment and commercial work in the United States, France, Italy, England, and Japan, among others, has published a number of solo books including Earthlings (Terriens) in 2007 and his most recent title, Selected Writings, published in 2023 by Damiani, and he has had important exhibitions in the US, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
His work has appeared in Geo, The Paris Review, Creative Camera, Aperture, Zoom, Newsweek, and Photo, among many others. Editorial assignments and even commercial work have given Richard an additional opportunity to do personal photography. He did many documentary stories that allowed him to disengage from documentary mode when the occasion arose.
Richard joined Magnum Photos as an associate member in 1975, and became a full member two years later. He subsequently served several times as vice president, and once as president of the agency.
In episode 221, Richard discusses, among other things:
How he ended up settling in Paris
His introduction to photography
How humour is an intrinsic element of his photographs
how he is playing with things he has trouble dealing with
Why he called up Robert Delpire
VU agency becoming Viva
How he ended up in Magnum
His favourite cities to shoot in
The legal restrictions on shooting in public in different places
Public attitudes towards taking photographs of strangers in public
His new book, Selected Writings
Why his interest is in single images that stand alone
Referenced:
Jérôme Ducrot
André Kertesz
HCB
Robert Frank
Friedlander
Erwitt
Robert Delpire
Viva Agency
Guy LeQuerec
Gilles Peress
Mary Ellen Mark
Alex Majoli
Jonas Bendiksen
Paolo Pellegrin
Olivia Arthur
“I’m most interested in having pictures stand alone, and each one is something you can get into and is a story in itself and is also an imaginary story. I’m working with reality, that’s what’s really interesting to me and it’s also what’s interesting about photography in general, that you’re doing something that looks like real life but obviously isn’t. that’s the edge I like to work on. Where you have the impression that things are going on and not necessarily going on. If I have to tell a story, I feel a certain moral obligation to respect the truth or respect the feelings of the people that are in it. I think that’s a noble thing but for my kind of work it’s a break.”
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by MPB - transforming the way people buy, sell and trade in photo and video kit. An online platform for used photography and videography equipment, MPB is a destination for everyone, whether you've just discovered your passion for visual storytelling or you’re already a pro.
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Capture One Pro, the professional photo editing software that allows you to shoot, edit and collaborate whether in the studio or on the road.
Bring your vision to life with Capture Pro. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to try Capture One yourself and get an exclusive 20% discount on your first year’s subscription HERE
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Pic-Time - An all-in-one platform to deliver, share and sell prints.
Try Pic-Time Free for 30-Days! and enter the code ASMALLVOICE to get a bonus month when upgrading to any Pic-Time paid plan.
Click SHARE in the player to download the episode. If you're listening on a mobile device you might be better off using a free podcast player app such as Overcast or, for iPhone people, Apple Podcasts which is already installed.
For additional, exclusive content JOIN NOW as a A Small Voice member, become a supporter or make a one-off donation.
