In this episode, photographer Alexei Riboud sits down with Carrie Scott. Born into the art world yet carving his own distinctive path, Riboud shares intimate reflections on his journey, influences, and approach to photography as both art form and personal expression.
Our conversation explores Riboud's fascinating relationship with photography - a medium he embraces for its ability to balance his love of solitude with meaningful connection to the world. With candid insight, he discusses growing up surrounded by artistic luminaries, trading prints with photography legends, and developing a style that honors influences while remaining distinctly his own.
Alexei Riboud is an accomplished photographer born into remarkable artistic lineage as the son of sculptor/poet Barbara Chase-Riboud and renowned photographer Marc Riboud. Despite this heritage, Alexei's path to photography was not predetermined but personally discovered, leading to a distinctive visual language that balances documentary tradition with contemporary vision.
His work has focused on documentary storytelling with particular interest in communities at the margins, including recent projects in Panama's Afro-Caribbean community in Colón. Riboud's approach combines the humanistic perspective reminiscent of his father's work with elements of the dynamic energy found in photographers like William Klein, whom he greatly admires.
Beyond his photography, Riboud is known for his thoughtful reflections on the medium itself and its power to connect people across cultural boundaries. His work continues to evolve while maintaining a commitment to authentic visual storytelling.
From Carrie: I don't mind admitting that Alexei Riboud kind of terrifies me. He comes from art world grace, really. Barbara Chase-Riboud is his mother, Marc Riboud is his father, and so his kind of understanding of art, it's pure and instinctive, right? I've studied it for years - he grew up with it. There's a different thing here. And you see that in the work for sure. He's got a fluency that it's extraordinary. But what I love about being able to interview artists is that you learn something new when you speak to them. And today I realized that actually Alexei is a photographer in spite of the fact that he was raised by artists. This wasn't something that was like a foregone conclusion and not something that maybe they even encouraged. He found photography kind of in spite of where he comes from. And again, I think you see that in the work because it's raw and honest and there's no sentimentality to it. It's just extraordinary. Like him.
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