Alexandra Boulat passed away last night.
It is a terrible thing to loose a great photojournalist. No only the world looses an out of the ordinary human being, but we also all loose a witness to our time. Born in a family of photo people, Annie , founder and director of the Cosmos agency in France and Pierre Boulat, also an extremely talented photographers, Alexandra did not fear being judged by both her parents. She did what few could have done.
We probably met when we were both kids, in between a Magnum Cocktail or behind our parents at some photo opening. Who knows ? I certainly do not remember. What I do know is that I have followed her photo career as a spectator of greatness and like many others, learned about the world, our world, my world through her eyes. Her images told me about places and events that I could have never, ever experienced without her passion to report. She had the eye of a reporter, of a witness but also of a writer that not only had something to say but also refused to remain quiet. It seemed that she could never use anything bigger than a 35 mm lens as she not only wanted to be as close as possible from her story, but also wanted to show us that everything around her subjects was as important as the subject itself.
I never met Alexandra, probably because part of me thought it would happen one day. I was wrong and I regret it now. If only to simply have had the chance to tell her how much I loved her work. However, it still feels to me that I lost a great friend, someone I could always count on. The pages of the magazines will feel quite empty without her images.
Some of her work can be seen on the VII Photo agency website that she co-founded.
My thoughts go to Alexandra’s proud mother Annie and her family.
