KIEZ 030
Meet The Entrepreneur: KOZVA RIGAUD AND THE POWER OF CURIOSITY
Q: You built Shotview Agency over twenty years ago, in an industry that hasn't always made space for women at the top. How has being a woman been perceived in this industry, and how has the industry itself changed since you started?
A: When I started, the industry was run mostly by men. I am a very curious person and that curiosity has always driven me towards innovation, new tendencies and unexpected places. At the time I founded the agency, that kind of curiosity was not the norm. But it brought me to situations and opportunities that a more conventional path never would have. As a woman, I can imagine that for many people, there was little belief this was going to be a long ride. I am sure I was underestimated at the beginning. And honestly? I used that to my advantage. People who underestimate you stop watching you carefully, and that is when you build.
Q: When you choose who to represent, what are you looking for? What qualities matter to you?
A: Talent is the starting point, but it is never enough on its own. What I look for is a point of view. I want to see a photographer or artist and immediately understand how they see the world, not just what they shoot, but why. That specificity, that obsession with a particular way of looking, is what makes an artist irreplaceable.
I also look for hunger. Not desperation, hunger. The kind of person who is never quite satisfied with their last work, who wakes up thinking about the next one. And I look for character. Because I represent human beings, not portfolios. When things get complicated, and they always do, I need to know who I am dealing with.
Q: What does good storytelling look like to you, and what makes a good work really good? Could you give an example of one successful commercial campaign you think got it exactly right?
A: Good storytelling in commercial or commissioned photography is when you forget you are looking at an advertisement. When the image has enough humanity, enough tension, enough beauty that it exists beyond its brief. The product becomes secondary to the feeling, and yet somehow the feeling sells the product better than any product shot ever could.
There are many campaigns we did that showed exactly these emotions and not the product, but I would prefer not to mention any specifically, because all our clients and artists are great. There is no better or worse.
Q: Top three photographers, and why?
A: Henri Cartier-Bresson captured life as it was happening, without interference. That honesty in image-making has never left me.
Richard Avedon is widely credited with erasing the line between art and commercial photography and that is something I have always believed in deeply.
Philip-Lorca di Corcia brings the same precision and dramatic light to every subject. That cinematic quality, the way he uses light!
Martín Chambi was a pioneering Indigenous Peruvian photographer, captured the depth and dignity of Peru's diverse population during the 20th century. His images are stunning!
Q: You came to Berlin and stayed. What has this city given you that shaped both you and the agency, and what is it still lacking?
A: Berlin gave me permission to reinvent myself. This city does not care who you were before you arrived. It only asks what you are building now. For someone who was always arriving somewhere new, that was an extraordinary gift. What Berlin gave Shotview specifically is an aesthetic. A seriousness about image-making, a refusal of the decorative for its own sake, a hunger for work that means something.
What is still missing? Warmth. Berlin is brilliant and cold. Berlin makes you work for connection in a way that other cities do not. I have made my peace with it. But I notice it every time I land back from somewhere else.
Q: Where do you go in Berlin when you want to switch off?
A: The Neue Nationalgalerie is always deeply inspiring for me, a great source of inspiration and a place where I can completely lose track of time but also all amazing galleries. I also love walking along the canal. Berlin has so many great restaurants, the food scene here is endlessly surprising and constantly evolving.
But if I am truly honest about where I switch off? A long, unhurried dinner with people I love. That is where I truly disconnect, not in silence but in good conversation and something delicious on the table. That combination, for me, is everything.
