Robert LeBlanc, based in Los Angeles, creates photography and videos that offer profound, unvarnished glimpses into marginalized communities. His subjects—hotshot firefighters, hurricane survivors, Holiness snake handlers, solitary train travelers across America's West, impassioned political figures, border militias, and other subcultures and communities that thrive within America's landscape—embody the resilience and contradictions of contemporary life. Through prolonged engagement, often spanning years, LeBlanc cultivates trust, resulting in images that capture the unguarded essence of his subjects' existence. His work, a seamless blend of documentary fidelity and surrealist evocation, is represented in the bookstores of esteemed institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), MoMA PS1, and the Getty Museum's Research Institute Library, inviting audiences to engage with the overlooked narratives that define our era.
A self-taught photographer, LeBlanc first honed his craft by documenting life on a skateboard, channeling its unpolished vitality into his debut monograph, Unlawful Conduct (2015). Encased in unique covers derived from a graffiti mural, this limited-edition book sold out before release and was acquired by art bookstores worldwide, including MoMA PS1 and Frye Art Museum. Moon Dust (2021) chronicles the lives of wildfire crews in Montana and California, portraying their perilous struggle against unrelenting flames. GLORYLAND (2023) captures a vanishing religious community with poignant intimacy resulting from a five-year immersion with West Virginia's last serpent-handling church. ELK (2024), an experimental film and book, traces five graffiti writers on a 4,800-mile odyssey through America's heartland, documenting their fleeting marks and encounters. Tin Lizards (2025) explores the romance of train travel through a poetic fusion of documentary and surrealist imagery.
LeBlanc's oeuvre, distinguished by its empathetic lens and aesthetic precision, serves as both a historical record and a contemplative inquiry into endurance, faith, and the delicate beauty of lives lived on the margins. LeBlanc's work resonates as a vital contribution to social and environmental transformation discourse, offering a testament to the life and spirit inhabiting the frame's periphery.