Poetry, Tension and Everyday Life 

Alex Webb (born in 1952 in San Francisco, California) is one of the leading figures in contemporary street photography. He is particularly renowned for his complex, multi-layered compositions, deeply defined by colour and striking contrasts. 

His interest in photography began during his school years. He later studied History and Literature at Harvard University while also studying photography at the Carpenter Center for the Arts. In 1974, he began his professional career as a photojournalist and took his first steps at Magnum Photos, becoming an associate member in 1976 and a full member of the agency in 1979. 

During the early years of his career, in the 1970s, Webb photographed everyday life in small towns across the American South in black and white. It was, however, his travels through the Caribbean and Mexico that profoundly transformed his vision and led him towards colour photography. This choice would become one of the most distinctive features of his work. 

In his photographs, reality never seems to reveal itself immediately. Webb constructs dense, almost pictorial scenes in which multiple events, figures, planes and gestures coexist within the same space, intersecting in carefully articulated compositions. Through intense light, colour and the precision with which he captures fleeting moments, Webb transforms everyday life and the social tensions of the places he encounters into images that are poetic, unexpected and surprising.