Richard Phibbs brings an artist’s eye to every photograph he takes – in advertising and editorial, fine art and his personal work. His images have appeared in major publications worldwide, including Vanity Fair, Harpers Bazaar UK, Town & Country UK, Vogue China, Paper Magazine and many more. His fine art photography is in the private collections of Bill Clinton, Ralph Lauren, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Eisner among others.

Richard Phibbs’ book Rescue Me, published in 2016 is a collection of portraits of shelter dogs and their heartwarming stories. His book The West, published in 2015, is a penetrating and personal view of the beauty and authenticity of the North American West and its people. Chasing Beauty, Phibbs’s first book, published in 2010, highlights a decade’s worth of personal work.

Born and raised in Canada, Phibbs received degrees from the University of Toronto and Parsons in New York. He lives in New York City.

The quiet monumentality of Richard Phibbs.

Richard Phibbs began working with photography in 1994 as a therapeutic outlet after losing friends to AIDS. His practice has since been driven by a desire to bring grace and hope through a profound respect for his subjects.

Phibbs’s photography is guided by a strong sense of classicism, often echoing the clarity and balance of ancient Greek and Roman art. His careful study of form and how a body stands or how light traces a profile or a muscle allows him to ennoble and glorify his subjects, whether they are models, public figures, or rescue animals. By using simple backgrounds and sculptural light, he gives each person or animal, even the most vulnerable, a quiet, monumental presence, worthy of contemplation.

In both his fashion work and his rescue projects, this focus on form and respect makes the images feel lasting, almost
like modern-day statues that quietly honor the inner nobility of each being.