Marc Riboud
PARIS TO PEKING

26 March – 9 May, 2015

“Rather than a profession, photography has always been a passion for me, a passion closer to an obsession”. Marc Riboud

ATLAS Gallery are delighted to announce an exhibition of rare prints from the personal archive of French photographer Marc Riboud.

Riboud was one of the only photographers to visit and document daily life in China, and the exhibition is a rare opportunity to view little-seen prints from this expedition. Early images of Paris, Central London, Woolwich, Wimbledon, Southend and Leeds taken after Riboud became a member of Magnum Photos in 1953 will also be part of the exhibition. This will be a unique opportunity to view these very rarely seen images, which form an essential but lesser known part of Riboud’s oeuvre.

Paris to Peking is a selection of favourite pieces from Riboud's personal archive, and documents his evolution as a photographer. Images are sized from 7cm to 9.5cm to 12cm x 16cm and priced from £2,400 to £30,000. Also in the show is an almost unique mammoth print (120cm x 180cm) of The Eiffel Tower Painter.

A photojournalist par excellence, Riboud's is best known for his extensive reports of the East, though his travels over many decades included Africa, South America, Japan and the US capturing both the atrocities of war and the beauty of ordinary daily life. He was one of very few photographers allowed access to China during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, and captured haunting images of the Vietnam War from both American and Vietnamese viewpoints respectively.

Riboud's early career began in 1951 when, after experimenting with photography at the festival of Lyon during a week long holiday, he moved to Paris where he met Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa, the founders of Magnum Photos. Riboud would become president of the agency in 1976.

One of Ribouds most famous images will be included in the exhibition. 'Eiffel Tower Painter', taken in 1953 is one of the most eminent photographic images in the history of photography, and demonstrates Riboud's innate compositional skill.

Ben Burdett says: 'The importance of Riboud as a photojournalist in the latter part of the 20th century cannot be overstated. However, he is also a photographer of lyricism, wit and vision, and this exhibition is an opportunity to view images which have a particular resonance for him personally'.


· Born in 1923 in Lyon, France, Marc Riboud is best known for his extensive reports on the East: The Three Banners of China, Face of North Vietnam and In China.
· Riboud's photographs have appeared in numerous magazines, including Life, National Geographic, Paris Match and Stern.
· He has had major retrospective exhibitions at the Musee d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the International Center of Photography in New York.
· Riboud was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1998.
· In 2004 his retrospective was exhibited at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris and visited by 100 000 people.
· Awards include two Overseas Press Club Awards, the Time-Life Achievement Award (2009), the Lucie Award and the ICP Infinity Award.