I first met Paris-born photographer Gabrielle Ravet face-to-face almost one year ago at Baby’s All Right. She was there, camera in one hand, drink in another, tagging along with Taraneh — who she’d shot for our fall issue. Then I started to see Gaby everywhere — around the neighborhood, at a string of local shows. Spiritually, we seemed to operate in the same sliver of Venn diagram — as the only two people you’re likely to find in Dimes Square wearing Anthony Green merch. About a month after meeting, a DM popped up on my screen. It was Gaby, letting me know she’d be at When We Were Young, if I happened to need a photographer on site.
Alternative Press is an alarmingly small team, and as a result, I’m often scrambling to assemble teams and plans can come together at the eleventh hour. She was still somewhat of a stranger, and had never shot a full festival before, but though it’s one of the more important gigs, I had a slot for another photographer for the pop-punk festival, and hired Gaby for the role. Having recently published a behind-the-scenes story of Green Day’s massive summer tour in the New York Times, it was evident she was more than a hobbyist, lingering in lower Manhattan, hanging out and shooting the city’s up-and-coming DIY artists at trending venues — Addison’s Pest Control, Night Club 101, the likes.
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At AltPress in 2025, we grapple daily with balancing where nostalgia wants to take us, and where our feet are planted today. It’s far from easy. But after Nevada, it was evident that not only did Gaby understand the assignment, she nailed it. I realized why, soon after — she is an insider, woven into the fabric of the music and movement that had brought us all there.
Gabrielle Ravet
It takes a special person to lay it all bare, and commit to the wildly uncertain career path around this music and its culture — or any music and culture these days. I know this from experience. There’s immense pressure to fit into a lane, even in the niche world of music photography. But while Gaby’s work does include the expected, dynamic coverage of live shows and artist portraits — at its heart, the life that pulses through all she does comes from a unique, and deeply personal place. You won’t find her lens looking in the unanimous direction.
Growing up in France, though Warped Tour and mall goth culture weren’t as accessible, Gaby found alternative music at an early age. The catalyst? My Chemical Romance. The dark, othered theater kid-friendly world the New Jersey icons had built had a magnetic pull that to this day hasn’t wavered for the photographer. Swiftly, she joined the ranks that surpass staple fandom, and qualified as a superfan. And on that journey, a tight-knit, global community fell into her lap.
Gabrielle Ravet
The full-blown hysteria brought on by the Beatles 1964 — that’s not unusual to see mirrored by the MCRmy. The scene surrounding them, whether you argue its emo, pop punk, or a secret third thing, allowed for self-described “outsiders” a community, language, and means for expression that was hitting the mainstream in ways that allowed far more access than the underdogs of ’80s and ’90s hardcore and punk — while rebuking any boy band airs. It’s all to say, the millennial mix of pop sensation and alternative spirit came at just right time, and just the right place — for a new, feverish fandom to be born.
For Gaby, certain things have changed, while others haven’t. She follows MCR and adjacent bands like L.S. Dunes and Thursday on tour — her shock of shaggy blond hair can be seen surfing crowds across the country and Europe. But today, not only is she shooting the bands with a few degrees under her belt — a BA in liberal arts, an MA from Goldsmiths University in London where she wrote two theses on womanhood, identity and fandom, and a certificate from the International Center for Photography — she’s also turned the lens onto another vital aspect of creative counterculture, one she knows well: the fans themselves.
Gabrielle Ravet
To understand an artist, their work, their impact, Gaby argues, you have to understand their fanbase. For 10 years, since diving in headfirst as a “fangirl” herself, Gaby’s built a network of friends she’s met online and at shows around the world, and since moving to New York City in the last few, she’s dedicated her time to telling their stories. We all too often get the bird’s-eye view of those who’ve stuck it out at the barricade through heat, hunger, and less-than-impressive sets. Gaby, on the other hand, gives us insight that permeates the surface, exudes nostalgia, excitement, and unravels the phenomenon that has been a powerful interpersonal connector, and fuel and motivation for artists — not to mention carried the industry in more than a few ways.
Her latest project, A Fangirl’s Diary, sees Gaby recreating her teenage fangirl’s bedroom, by replacing the posters of bands she adores with posters of her peers, the fans she’s met and grown to love. Reuniting with 30 MCR fans, and unpacking the relationships they’ve formed both around and outside of the bands that bonded them, she aims to shift the negative perception of fangirls — rather, the project hopes to empower women in being passionate, authentic, and expressive. The images featured have been photographed in the past two years.
Gabrielle Ravet
The show will open on April 17 at Unruly Collective, located at 200 Cooper St, Brooklyn, NY, 11207. The exhibition will be on view from April 18 to May 18, with an opening reception on April 17 from 6 p.m., where there will be live music performances from 8 p.m. from bands Nina Fitzgerald, Wifey, and So Long and Goodnight. Other artists talks TBA throughout the month.
