Photographer Robin Galiegue on Timeless Imagery
As the world of fashion continues to evolve, new energy has emerged from a talent pool that is constantly making its mark amongst the luxury set. One of these rising stars is French photographer Robin Galiegue, whose compelling images have been catching the attention of the industry’s most discerning eyes from Vogue to Self Service Magazine. Born in Paris, Galiegue’s work blends a sense of raw energy with a refined aesthetic. Fluctuating between black-and-white and soft color, his photographs have a cinematic quality that draws the viewer in, inviting them to explore the characters and worlds he creates. Already making waves in the industry, Galiegue has shot for brands like Saint Laurent, Isabel Marant, Givenchy, and Courreges and has captured top models like Anna Ewers, Rianne Van Rompaey, Precious Lee, and Kendall Jenner. As he continues to push boundaries and break new ground, Models.com spoke with Galiegue in his first ever interview to discuss his origins, his photographic self-education, and embracing other ways to take photographs.
Interview by Irene Ojo-Felix
Photos courtesy of Robin Galiegue for Models.com
Where does the dream to turn into a successful fashion photographer begin for you? When did you pick up your first camera?
I took my first picture when I was 14 of my sister. I would put make up on her, try to do her hair, and style her. That was very, very bad, I have to say, but that’s how everything began. Then I started taking photographs of my friends, my family, and then I started studying. I was in high school and when I turned 16 I moved to Paris. Super quickly I went to visual communication, specializing in photography school, and school wasn’t really for me. After a year-and-a-half when I turned 18, I started to reach out to every model agency in the world, and started doing model tests for a few years.
When did you start to get the idea for model agencies specifically and testing?
I studied so much, including on Models.com. I studied every single career of the top photographers, stylists, models in the world. That included the model agencies as well, so I started to reach out to them. I went to Bangkok to do model tests. Then, I went to New York – I just wanted to work outside of Paris. I understood very fast how closed the industry in Paris was and I just wanted to practice photography myself outside of that environment.
When did you know it was officially shaping out to be a career for you?
When I first started, I was working for free because I was building my portfolio and the model’s portfolio at the same time. Then I started to have good relationships with top agencies, and they started paying me for that. This is exactly when I realized because I didn’t know about the different types of contracts and what a real photographer was doing for brands. That was the first moment when I thought, “Oh, so that could be a real job.”
One of the first works for you, on our site, was back in 2020, working for Vogue France and Saint Laurent. How was it to break through at such a tumultuous moment as the pandemic?
Covid, I’m sorry to say, was very bad, but that era helped me so much in my career. Most photographers were based in London and New York and weren’t able to travel. I was at the right place at the right moment. Editors and brands finally started to look at a younger generation of photographers. I had the biggest chance by working for Vogue Paris with Virginie [Benarroch], who brought me on. I’ve been working in the shadows for years, and luckily enough, I found amazing people who really trusted me, even if I was very young.
When you’re creating imagery, what do you want audiences to feel when they see your images? Is there ever a thought process as far as I want the audience to feel this type of emotion from my work?
Everybody reads a photograph so differently, but the biggest goal as a photographer is to have people look at my pictures and say, “Oh, that’s timeless.” The impact, good or bad. My goal is just to tell the story and then it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the viewers.
Considering your connection to model agencies, how important is casting to you? Do you think of the character first or is it about the energy of what a potential muse can bring?
Casting to me is key, I have to say. At the very beginning, I’m just trying to imagine the character. If this is a top model, an actress, or even a friend, I just want to have someone who can embrace this character. My entire creative approach can change when I have a conversation with a casting director or a stylist because they can bring another dimension to the character I just visualized before. Sometimes I just have weeks to construct an idea, and sometimes, only a few days. It’s a team effort between the stylist, the casting director, and me.
How would you describe the nature of your own work, and what is it that you value when you’re first putting a shoot together in your mind? Is it about the references, or is it much more organic in that way?
I would say it always starts with the model, for me. It could start with a location or the pieces of the last runaway season. Then putting things together for the creative moodboad. I tend to gravitate towards black-and-white imagery with grain and soft color [in my work]. I just feel like as a photographer now, we have to reinvent how we sell. We have to stay true to ourselves. We have to be inspired by new things, and we can’t be scared to explore other ways to take a photograph.
How do you unplug from the influence that social media might have? Do you find yourself trying not to be influenced in that way?
Don’t get me wrong, Instagram’s amazing for finding archives but it’s not everything. I would say it’s a book or a movie. Honestly, it could be literally every single thing. When you’re in a car and you’re just looking out the window. That could be an incredible place when you can see a story there that you couldn’t even imagine before.
Considering your start and hustle, what advice would you give to up-and-coming photographers looking to start in the industry?
First, I’m still very, very young and I still have some advice for myself. I would say don’t become overly consumed with the industry trends. Just stay true to yourself, choose people who inspire you the most, and the most important thing I would say, would be being collaborative. We are extremely lucky to be able to work in this industry and create images. For an editorial, there’s a block of 10-20 creative people who use their creative minds to come together and make beautiful imagery. It’s all about being collaborative. Everyone has a voice on set, and you deserve to be listened to. It’s not just the photographer’s voice or the stylist’s voice, it’s everyone’s voice.
With such an incredible series of accolades already achieved so early in your career, what other goals do you have that have been yet to be achieved?
I would love to do more book projects and really find the time to make more of them. Three or four years ago, I shot my first book on French cheerleaders. Then after I did the Mongolian grasslands book and I just felt like I really wanted to push in that direction again. Just a nice in-between and a nice break from fashion. To be able to work commercially, connect with amazing people for editorial, and something for my own pleasure. There are also top girls that I really wanted to capture. I hope I’ll do it soon. Who knows?
