Clair obscur, 2023

Guilhem Ribart  

What a complex concept that happiness. Those who have everything to be are sad, those who have nothing seem happy… This is the observation of what was to become the common thread of my introspective approach through photography made possible by wonderful encounters around the world.

My adventure began in Paris, the city of lights, which attracts so many tourists every year, eager to visit the most beautiful city in the world.

And yet, the more I left this city and the more, when I returned there, I met people looking sad and unhappy. First questions, first doubts and first questions.

Then came the discovery of the camera, the time of my first trips to Africa, the confrontation with the sometimes total destitution of some and yet... yet... Smiles, fraternity, mutual aid, joy, respect and curiosity.

And an observation that is essential… We possess everything to the point of excess and we feel empty from the inside.

They have nothing and yet they have everything...

Photographer of passion, I have the chance and the opportunity to be able to follow my passion for more than 10 years. I was able to have the opportunity to present my pictures at events such as the VISA OFF Festival in Perpignan, the Rencontres d'Arles, the Art Basel Miami, the ArtExpo New York, the MAG Montreux and to exhibit a little all over the world including Paris, London, Miami, New York, Brussels, Shanghai, Beijing, Johannesburg, Vienna, Munich, Moscow, Baku, Montreux, Rabat, Cairo…

My photos have been distinguished more than 180 times in international FIAP / PSA / GPU competitions and have won a few (MIFA 2014, LICC 2017 in particular).

I owe it to my meeting with Simon Wheatley, photographer at the Magnum Agency, to have a humanist approach to photography, to capture moments of happiness and to flee sensationalism.

If I came to photography through architecture, my work has since opened up to humanist photography and photography of desert landscapes that I particularly like.