Arnaud Robert is a Swiss journalist, director and writer. His work has been published by Le Monde, Le Temps, La Repubblica, Néon, Les Inrockuptibles, Vibrations and many other international publications. He is a regular contributor to Swiss Radio Television.

He has directed three documentaries ( Bamako is a Miracle, Bondyé Bon and Gangbé! ). His films have been awarded prizes at the Vues d’Afrique Festival in Montreal and at the Jean Rouch Festival in Paris. His most recent medium-length film was selected for official competition at Visions du Réel, but also in Agadir, Guadalajara, New York, Neubrandenburg, etc.

He is also the author of several books, including Hors-Bord, a series of seven volumes co-authored with the painter Frédéric Clot, STATE, with Paolo Woods, and Journal d’un Blanc, a compilation of his columns in the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste. In 2016, he also authored the book 50 Summers of Music, about The Montreux Jazz Festival.

He is one of the creators of the exhibition Vodou, un art de Vivre, created at the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva and subsequently presented in ten countries. Arnaud Robert has been awarded the Prix de journalisme Jean-Dumur, the Prix des Radios Francophones Publiques and, in 2020, the Swiss Press Award for his investigation into the toilet revolution (Heidi.news).

Paolo Woods was born of Dutch and Canadian parentage. He grew up in Italy, lived in London, Paris, and Haiti and now is based in Florence.

He is devoted to long-term projects that blend photography with text. In 2003, together with award-winning writer Serge Michel, he published Un Monde De Brut ( A Crude World ), tackling the subject of the oil industry in twelve countries, including Angola, Russia, Kazakhstan, the USA and Iraq. In 2004, he published the book American Chaos, a detailed reportage on the western debacle in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both books have been published in France and Italy and as magazine pieces in over ten countries. In 2007-2008, he documented the spectacular rise of the Chinese in Africa. The book, Chinafrica, once again co-authored with Serge Michel, has been published in France and translated into eleven languages, including English, Spanish and Chinese. The work has been acclaimed as the most thorough investigation into the phenomenon, and as an exemplary combination of research and documentary photography. The book has enjoyed significant commercial success, with over 40,000 copies sold in France alone.

In 2010, he completed the project Walk on my Eyes, an intimate portrait of Iranian society. The resulting book has been published in French, German, Spanish and Persian. In 2010, Paolo Woods moved to Haiti. In 2013, he published STATE and PEPE, both co-authored with writer Arnaud Robert. The related exhibition was produced by the Musee de l’Elysée and went on to be the most viewed in the history of the museum. He worked for three years on the project The Heavens, the first photographic investigation into the workings of tax havens. That show premiered at the Festival of Arles in France and has toured worldwide. The book was selected as one of the best photobooks of 2015 by Martin Parr.

He has been appointed as the artistic director of the festival Cortona On The Move and his first edition, July 2022 was titled “Me, Myself and Eye”.

The most prominent international publications (including Time, Le Monde, The Guardian, and National Geographic, among others) regularly feature his work. His pictures are in private and public collections, including in the Musee de l’Elysée, the French National Library, the FNAC, and the Sheik Saud Al-Thani collection.

He has received several prizes, including two World Press Photo awards.