Richard Kalvar

photographer

American^[1,3] b. 1944, Brooklyn, New York, USA^[1,2] active 1965–present

Richard Kalvar is an American-born photographer based in Paris. Born in Brooklyn in 1944, he studied English and American literature at Cornell University from 1961 to 1965 before beginning his career in photography. He became a full member of the prestigious Magnum Photos cooperative in 1977. Kalvar is known for his 'unposed' street photography, which captures humorous, absurd, or surreal moments of human behavior across the globe. His work often focuses on the quotidian nature of life, finding extraordinary meaning in isolated frames. He has spent over 50 years traveling to various countries, including France, Italy, England, Japan, and the United States, documenting the 'earthlings' who inhabit these spaces.^[1,4,5]

• street photography
• human behavior
• absurdity
• quotidian life