Alain Richard seeks to capture the landscape devoid of human presence, elevating the presence of nature. An invitation to become aware of the sublime beauty of the world we live in, reinterpreting our place within it.
For decades, Alain has been engaging with the natural landscape in his work as a means of self-reflection, and explores themes of time, memory and the nature of reality. Richard’s work often involves large format photographs of vast expanses of sea, sky, and land. Devoid of human presence, His work emphasises the experience of the infinity of nature and the representation of its presence.
FOREWORD
Alain Richard’s practice is deeply centered around the sublimation of natural landscapes. Omitting human presence, we feel in every work the power and stillness of nature, where the sea and the reflection of the sun seem suspended in a silent exchange. Richard composes moments where nature’s vastness becomes almost tactile, a texture with no narrative imposed, no intervention, only the invitation to truly look.
Through deep blues and shadowed greens, Richard’s work pulses with an existential beauty. Each image holds something more than a view: it offers a poetic glimpse into something that cannot be grasped. A reminder of the fragile, fleeting nature of life. By capturing nature, Richard captures an instant that will never be again. Everything just passes: the wave will never be this way again, the sun will never cast light like that again.
Though the human figure is absent, the act of looking remains. Through his eyes, and through the gesture of capturing, Richard becomes the human trace. He fixes a moment that will never return, imprinting it with the quiet awareness that nothing lasts.
What emerges is not documentation, but contemplation. Richard’s photographs don’t ask us to understand, they ask us to feel. And yet, in the stillness of the moments captured, something endures. A presence. A bond. A shared breath between the viewer and the natural world. One that, perhaps, we’ve forgotten how much we need.
Pauline Foessel
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work as a landscape photographer celebrates the vastness of nature. By combining a discerning eye for detail and a minimalist sensitivity, I strive to capture the essence of beauty in the natural world. Devoid of human presence and narration, my images invite the viewer to contemplate every detail that typically escapes our perception.
It pleases me to see people discover their inherent ability to notice previously overlooked details, revealing a reality they hadn’t anticipated. This disorienting awareness leads the viewer into physically situating themselves within my images. In some way, it is a duality between realism and abstraction, an invitation to become aware of the sublime beauty of the world we live in, reinterpreting our place within it.
Biography
Alain Richard is a Franco-Belgian photographer, born in 1968.
After graduating in Photography in 1991, he moved to Paris and became an assistant to renowned fashion photographers, collaborating with prominent figures between Paris and New York. In 1997, he secured his first global campaign, marking the beginning of his career as a fashion photographer and film director.
In 2000, he founded Studio 202 in Brussels, which quickly became a creative landmark in Belgium. His work appeared in major magazines such as Vogue (US and France), W, DS Magazine, and ELLE.
In 2014, Alain shifted his focus from fashion to fine art photography. Driven by a more introspective vision, he began exploring natural landscapes as a form of self-reflection. His large-format photographs capture the essence of the sea, sky, and land, exploring themes of time, memory, and perception. Minimalist in composition, his work reveals rich textures and subtle abstraction upon closer inspection.
His work has been exhibited internationally — from New York to Eastern Europe and Asia — and he collaborates with environmental organizations such as the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and Global Wildlife Conservation to support efforts to protect the planet.
Constantly traveling, Alain Richard seeks to capture moments where nature reveals its raw power and silent beauty, offering a renewed perspective on our often-overlooked environment.