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Peter Lindbergh
Peter Lindbergh

Peter Lindbergh

Country: Germany
Birth: 1944 | Death: 2019

Peter Lindbergh was a German fashion photographer and film director known for his evocative black and white images and his distinctive, naturalistic style. He was born in Lissa, Germany (now Leszno, Poland) and grew up in Duisburg, Germany. He studied photography in Munich and worked as a photographer's assistant in Dusseldorf before moving to Paris in 1978 to start his career as a fashion photographer.

Once upon a time, the photographer had to have an idea, not just click the shutter.

-- Peter Lindbergh


Lindbergh's photographs appeared in numerous international fashion magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle. He also worked with many of the world's leading fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior, and Armani. His images are known for their timeless quality and for the way they capture the spirit and personality of his subjects.

In addition to his work in fashion, Peter Lindbergh also directed several films and documentaries, including the documentary Models, which explored the world of fashion modeling, and the film Pollution, which examined environmental issues.

Peter Lindbergh was also active in humanitarian causes, using his talent and influence to raise awareness about social and political issues. He was a member of the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights and worked with Amnesty International on a campaign against the death penalty.

When you do portrait photography it really can be quite insane. It’s crazy what is possible today. Photoshop is a huge tragedy in that respect as well, no question!

-- Peter Lindbergh


Lindbergh was the recipient of numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the German Bambi award. He was also inducted into the German Photography Hall of Fame in 2003.

Peter Lindbergh passed away on September 3, 2019 at the age of 74. His work continues to be exhibited and celebrated around the world.
 

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More Great Photographers To Discover

Erhan Coral
Attila Ataner
Canada/Turkey
I am of Turkish ancestry, but born in Svishtov, Bulgaria, a small town on the Danube river. During the 1980s, my parents and I lived in Triploi, Libya, where I attended an international school for the children of expats. There, I was introduced to photography by one of my all-time best, and favourite teachers. I have been an avid amateur photographer ever since. I currently live in Toronto, Canada, with my wife and two young children. I am formerly a practicing lawyer, however I recently returned to school to pursue a PhD degree in philosophy, with my focus being on environmental philosophy and legal and political theory. My current passion for photography, and the series of photos I have been working on more recently, is partly informed by my scholarly work on environmental issues. For instance, my series titled "Landscapes of Modernity" is an attempt to translate some of my philosophical ideas into a visual/photographic format. Landscapes of Modernity This series of phots is, in part, an attempt to translate some of my academic work on environmental philosophy into visual/photographic format, an effort to express my ideas through art rather than scholarship alone. My overall project aims to reflect on the contemporary experience of dwelling in extensively built-up, "artificial" spaces. Our ancestors lived in spaces pervaded by natural landscapes, by mountains, valleys, by open skies, and the like. They were surrounded by spontaneous, self-generating, self-sustaining (i.e., so-called "natural") entities. Conversely, consequent to modernity, our visual landscapes are now largely colonized by massive, cuboid, monolithic structures; and by constricted, disrupted or otherwise occluded skies. Above all, we have surrounded ourselves with a seemingly endless array of almost exclusively human-made constructs. This is the central contrast between modernity and the modes of dwelling of our ancestors. ... And here, in this modern moment, we find astounding beauty mixed with a certain apprehension, oppressiveness and brutality - for instance, as is exemplified by the staggering scale of the seemingly omnipresent and ever-expanding character of the structures that now envelop and enframe our lives. I hope my photos manage to capture this duality in the contemporary urban landscape.
MG Vander Elst
Belgium/United States
1967
Raised In Antwerp, Belgium, MG Vander Elst is a Fine Art Photographer and holds a Certificate of Photography from The Portfolio Center in Atlanta, Ga. She worked as a photographer’s assistant in NYC and developed her Portraiture work which later expanded to include, still life, abstract and landscape work. Art was all around her growing up in Antwerp, where she regularly visited the Ruben’s house, studied the Dutch Masters, and shared her parents love for Modern Art. The light, gesture and intimacy of the Dutch masters and the minimalism of modernists still influence her work. MG’s fine art photography approach is intuitive, stemming from an idea or an emotion. Whether photographing landscape, florals or abstracts she tries to make visible what is invisible, pursuing that intimate moment between inhale and exhale. Statement MG’s latest work in florals, still life and abstract work all stem from the same place, a place of loss, identity and forging ahead. Letting go "Floral images are my new center, I use flowers that I encounter in my neighborhood and local shops, it is no surprise to learn that these flowers embody the range of emotions I have been going through, like remembrance, growth, healing, refuge, and love. Through this process I am learning that photographing the simple lines and daintiness of these flowers they become an exercise in form, in juxtapositions and in letting go. In closely observing the shifting shapes of these living forms, who then transition, mature, and wilt I witness the contrasting paradox in beauty when blossoming or dying combined with their shaggy stalk and the petal’s ethereal texture which generates this visual dissonance that captivate me. I am not frozen and no longer afraid, but instead I am finding a rise of energy in this newfound freedom of moving in a place I have never been." Finding my Way "At the onset of the Pandemic, I lost my mother, simultaneously, my eldest son was preparing to leave for college. With the loss of my mother, I became the adult, the matriarch. The guidance I trusted and the intimacy I relied on was gone, that comfort of being the child vanished. With the anticipation of my son’s departure, I was thrusted into an uncharted emotional landscape, one where I felt undefined as a mother and did not know how to move forward. So, returning to myself and turning the camera onto my body is my way forward. By abstracting my body, I examine the shapes and textures of my form; in this pause, I am able to explore and chart my new emotional landscape. This way I am relearning who I am in order to know where I am going." Conformity "When I am creating still life’s in my own domestic spaces or in my studio. I am asking questions about my life today, as a woman, as mother and as a spouse. Whose ideas about myself am I conforming to? Why do I possess a pink razor, Is this herbal tea really soothing me? By calling attention to the everyday mundane possessions, we surround ourselves with, my intention is clear from the start. In certain instances, I juxtapose them with random objects, or I deliberately leave them by themselves. But by posing these objects in specific places I am adding a tension to the image and the one-dimensional image becomes a multi-dimensional exploration of the time we live in. I am making room for consideration, focusing on what that object means to us and what it evokes in us and why we surround ourselves with it. I aim to create a pause." AAP Magazine: AAP Magazine 26 Shapes Article Silences
Josephine Cardin
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Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Josephine Cardin is a fine arts photographer who grew up in South Florida, until moving to Boston, MA in 2006.Presently, Cardin has been developing her figurative work, inspired by music, dance, and the human themes of loneliness, isolation, melancholy, love and loss. Cardin uses both dancers, and self-portraiture to illustrate scenes that bewitch, seduce, and explore our human sensibilities; through abstract stories with a visual dialogue between the subject and the artist created through a symbiosis of harmonic gestures and magnetic artistry.Cardin's work has been published in The Spoiler�s Hand, Lucy�s, Canto, beau BU, Scope, F-Stop, and Dance Magazines; Playbill, and the book Meet The Dancers. She has exhibited with The Professional Woman Photographers, The Boca Raton Museum of Art Juried Exhibition, and with The Woman in The Visual Arts. Most recently Cardin received and honorable mention for the 2014 Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, and was selected as a finalist for the PhotoNola/International House Mary Magdalene Exhibit in New Orleans. She has done work for the Boston Ballet, Rochester City Ballet, Arts Ballet Theater, and The Broward Center for the Performing Arts; as well as work for corporate clients. Additionally she earned an artistic grant from the state of Florida, prior to her move to Boston.Always an artist in some capacity, Cardin started out as a ballet dancer, then earning her B.A. in Art History from Florida Atlantic University, followed by an M.A. in Communications from Lynn University. She went on to hold several professional jobs in the arts, while continuing to produce personal and professional photography projects as a freelancer. In 2010 Cardin focused on pursuing her fine arts career full-time. She lives and works in Rochester, NY, with her husband and two young children.
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Filippo Poli
Italy
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Filippo Poli, an architect by training, is based in Milan and has worked as a photographer since 2008 with architecture studios, foundations, and publishers. His personal projects explore the cultural landscape and the evolving relationship between humans and nature, along with its consequences. His work appears in leading international magazines and publications. He received numerous accolades: 5th National New Photographic Vision León (2025), Enaire Foundation (2017, 2025), Architecture Photography Master Interior, PX3 Paris, ND Awards, Hopper Prize, Arles OFF (La Kabine), IPA Prize, Monochrome, FotoDoc, Arte Laguna, and PhotoEspaña Master Scholarship. Exhibitions include a solo show in León (2025), Dispara Gallery (collective Quatro Amigos), PhotoEspaña (2017, 2025), Venice Biennale, Climate Summit (COP25, 2019), ARCO Madrid (2018), and Vila Casas Foundation. His photographs are in public and private collections, including Enaire Foundation, Deutsches Architekturmuseum (Frankfurt), and Basho Gallery (USA). Roças of São Tomé: an [almost] lost treasure Discovering São Tomé and Príncipe is like going to an island that does not exist, so small that it does not appear on maps, and it is hard to notice it in the Gulf of Guinea—but all of us, sooner or later, have tasted a piece of it. In the mid-nineteenth century, this tropical land, made up of two islands lying on the equator, 300 km from the African coast, became the world’s largest cocoa producer. On this island, the cocoa plant found its perfect habitat and labor at will, cheaply imported from Cape Verde and the nearby African continent. It is not clear, even today, whether the archipelago was, before the arrival of the colonizers, uninhabited or already populated by people of Angolan origin. What is certain is that, from the 15th century, the island’s economy was primarily based on sugar cane production as well as the slave trade. For centuries, the island served as a classification hub for African deportees, who were embarked on ships of European powers to be sold in the American colonies. It was only in the 19th century that São Tomé and Príncipe became a wealthy colony, when Portuguese settlers founded large farms to grow coffee and cocoa. This lasted until 1869, when a slow decline began following the abolition of slavery, due to workers’ rebellions and the international boycott against the “slave cocoa” of the Portuguese colony. The production system endured until 1975; the last companies closed in 1990, and since then, this place has fallen into relative oblivion. A remarkable architectural heritage, however, still remains: the “roças.” This Portuguese term refers to the complex system of land exploitation that shaped the history of this small country for centuries under colonial rule. This vast agricultural machinery typically included greenhouses, dryers, warehouses, “senzalas”—the workers’ quarters—a church, a school, and sometimes even a railway connecting the different branches to the main roça and the sea. The main house, where the patrão—the landlord—lived, along with the hospital, dominated the entire settlement, either at the end of a monumental axis or from an elevated position of control. Both structures, characterized by Portuguese and European architectural styles, symbolized power. They were off-limits to the workers, who were subjected to strict working hours and restrictions on their freedom: they could not leave the farm or return to their homeland. Physical barriers—such as access to the main house or upper floors of hospitals reserved for Europeans—were clear, but the psychological boundaries, shaped over centuries of domination, still linger. They persist in the form of limited self-determination and organization. The people of São Tomé experience mixed feelings toward the roças: a blend of nostalgia and resentment for a past that provided work for all, but no rights. Architecture remains the last tangible symbol of this world and forms part of the population’s identity. The stories told by inhabitants reveal pride in the beauty of these structures, but also a sense of distance and impossibility toward spaces they never occupied. Even after expropriations in the 1980s, feelings of inferiority and lack of economic means prevented many from claiming ownership, leading to looting and eventual abandonment. The imposed divide between the world of the master and that of the workers has not disappeared since independence in 1975. The dichotomy between patrão and roças, masters and senzalas, has evolved into a new social boundary, reflected in the pejorative term “gente da roça”—people of the plantation—still marginalized within society. This photographic narrative, centered on around thirty roças, seeks to reconstruct the memory of these places by documenting their present condition and bringing renewed attention to an architectural heritage on the verge of disappearance. The project unfolds through two main approaches: the first focuses on the principal structures of the roças, photographed with long exposure to evoke a sense of untouchability and highlight the enduring tension between their grandeur and their surroundings; the second presents portraits of daily life within these communities, which, despite ongoing challenges, remain an active part of this history.
Damian Lemański
Damian Lemański aka Damian Wolf Wagabunda Polish freelance photojournalist documenting the life around him. He is mainly interested in people and their place in today's world - especially those left aside, on the margins of society. In 2008 he graduated from the European Academy of Photography in Warsaw - Dr Izabela Jaroszewska's school. He took part in workshops led by Kadir van Lohuizen, Pep Bonet, Tanya Habjouga, Espen Rasmussen, Stefano De Luigi, Tomasz Tomaszewski, Michael Ackerman, Lorenzo Castore. Vagabond and dreamer. At the turn of 2011 and 2012 he wandered for 181 days through South America. From this solitary expedition he edited the film 181. And in 2015 he set off on his bike from Korsze in Masuria (Poland) to Africa, to reach Dakar in Senegal after 171 days. During this expedition, together with the foundation Hear Africa, he raised money for the education of a deaf girl, Makane Dieng. From this expedition, Damian created the film Restaurant, which premiered in February 2018. In early 2019, he flew to the Greek island of Lesbos, where Europe's largest refugee camp is located, because he wanted to get to know the people that so many are afraid of without knowing them at all. For a few weeks, walking between tents in the so-called jungle next to the Moria camp (which he was not allowed into) and in other places on the island, he met hundreds of people who willingly invited him to join them around the campfire for warm tea or a meal in the tent that is currently their home, shared bread they had just baked in an oven dug into the ground, and shared heartbreaking stories. He met people who live in inhumane conditions and try to maintain their dignity, people who, having little, get offended if you don't eat enough, when they offer what they have. He also met there a wonderful Greek couple, Katerina and Nikos, who 6 days a week host the residents of the Moria and Kara Tepe camps for dinner in their restaurant and take the meals to the place. They are assisted by many volunteers, including from Poland. In October 2019, he visited Senegal again - this time to document the work of the Polish Medical Mission. At that time, he met Huleje (Little Princess) and her parents. Since 2017, every now and then he visits Lunik IX, a Roma settlement in Kosice, Slovakia, where he left his heart among the children living there. On a daily basis, he tries to love.
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AAP Magazine #59 Shapes
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