Master Profiles: Bruno Barbey

* “Master Profiles” is a series profiling all the great photographers of uncontrolled life. Unlike the rest of the blog, I’m doing these in a straight profile format to make it easy for quick access to facts, quotes and knowledge on all the masters. I’ll also group them together here every time I add a new one.

Profile:

Bruno Barbey (1941-2020)

Moroccan-born French photographer known for his work covering conflicted regions and his strong command of color.

Background:

Born: 1941 in Morocco

Bruno Barbey has French and Swiss dual nationality, but was born in Morocco in 1941. While French, he studied photography and graphic arts at the École des Arts et Métiers in Vevey, Switzerland in 1959. After school, he was hired by Editions Rencontre in Lausanne to photograph African and European countries during the early 1960s, including a special interest in capturing Italy and its people of the time. In 1966, he became an Associate member of the prestigious Magnum Photos agency, becoming a full member two years later, and eventually serving as President in 1992.

While he rejects the label of ‘war photographer,’ he started extensively covering conflicted regions, including civil wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Northern Ireland. He photographed Poland from 1979-81, which became a book, and his multiple decades of photographing his home country of Morocco also resulted in a book and exhibition. In total, he has published over 30 books and worked in all five major continents.

While Barbey is known for his extensive work covering wars and conflicts, he is also known for his strong use of color film. His earlier career dealt more in black and white, but later he shot more and more in color, which was especially unique in war photography at the time.

In 2016, Bruno Barbey became a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, Institut de France. He recently finished his decades long project photographing China with a book titled “China: From Mao to Modernity.”

Update: Unfortunately, Bruno passed on November 9th, 2020. Magnum Photos remembers both the man and his work here.

Style:

Early Color Photojournalism
Regions in conflict and war
Contrast and rich colors
Layers of interest blended into artistic imagery

Gear: Leica M rangfinders

Bruno has shot primarily with a Leica M, starting with the M2. As for lenses, his preference has been more towards the wider angles, mostly at 28mm. When it comes to film, Fujichrome Velvia has been his popular choice.

Quotes:

“Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.”

“Most of the time I take photographs to document for posterity, traditions and cultures rapidly vanishing as a result of changing consumer attitudes.”

“The value of feelings is the key element but, to get a great shot, technique is always extremely important. In any case, today with digital cameras any one can take photographs that are technically good.”