Quote: "The photograph is completely abstracted from life, yet it looks like life. That is what has always excited me about photography."

Richard Kalvar joined Magnum Photos in 1975 and became a full Member in 1977.

Richard Kalvar
American, b. 1944

After studying English and American literature at Cornell University from 1961 to 1965, Richard Kalvar worked in New York as an assistant to fashion photographer Jér?me Ducrot. It was an extended trip with a camera in Europe in 1966 that made him decide to become a photographer. After another two years in New York, he settled in Paris and first joined Vu Photo Agency, before helping to found the Viva agency in 1972. In 1975, he became an associate member of Magnum Photos and two years later a full member, subsequently serving as vice-president and president.

In 1980 Kalvar had a one-man show at the Agathe Gaillard gallery in Paris, and has since participated in many group shows. He published Portrait de Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (1993). A major retrospective of his work was shown at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in 2007, accompanied by a book, Earthlings. He has carried out extensive personal, editorial and commercial assignments throughout the world, notably in France, Italy, England, Japan and the United States, and continues to work on a long-term project on the city of Rome.

Kalvar's photographs are marked by a strong homogeneity of aesthetic and theme. His images frequently play on a discrepancy between the banality of a real situation and a feeling of strangeness that emerges from a particular choice of timing and framing. The result is a state of tension between two levels of interpretation, attenuated by a touch of humor.

Education

1961/65 BA in English, Cornell University, USA

Publications

1993 Portrait de Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, P.O. Calmann-Lévy, France
1987 L’Usine, Colgate Palmolive, France
1973 Familles en France, Viva, France