Alex Webb: Biography

Alex Webb was born in San Francisco in 1952. He studied history and literature at Harvard University and began working as a professional photojournalist in 1974. He joined Magnum Photos as an associate member in 1976, becoming a full member in 1979.

Webb has photographed extensively in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and most recently in Istanbul. His photographs have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, Life, Geo, Stern, and National Geographic. He has published five books: Hot Light/Half-Made Worlds (1986), Under a Grudging Sun (1989), From the Sunshine State (1996), Amazon (1997), and Crossings (2003). He has also created a limited edition book titled Dislocations (1998–99).

Webb received a New York Foundation of the Arts Grant in 1986, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1990, and a Hasselblad Foundation Grant in 1998. He won the Leopold Godowsky Color Photography Award in 1988, the Leica Medal of Excellence in 2000, and the David Octavius Hill award in 2002. Museums that have exhibited his work include the Walker Art Center, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the International Center of Photography, the High Museum of Art, the Southeast Museum of Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.