In this blog post, I would like to tell about the best photographers from Berlin and Germany who are and will be staying in our history. These are people who contributed to photography, captured our history and shaped our culture. This is my own opinion since I enjoy their work but I also did research to find the most influential photographers out there. As a photographer myself I’m happy to share this article with you.
Table of Contents
1- Helmut Newton
He was a remarkable photographer who was born in Berlin in 1920. He is definitely one of the best photographers from Berlin and the most famous one. Throughout his career, he travelled to different countries and mostly did fashion photography. He is also famous for nude photography. In my opinion, his nude works are interesting not because of nudes but of the character he put into his works. Nude photography often is about the subject but his works are different and depict the mood rather than simply nudes.
2 – Michael Schmidt
Schüler der 4. Klasse, Grundschule, Berlin-Wedding (Pupil, elementary school, Berlin-Wedding)
1976-1978
From Berlin-Wedding
© Michael Schmidt, Foundation for Photography and Media Art with the Michael Schmidt Archive
He was a documentary photographer who captured West Berlin and German identity. I love his compositions and how naturally his works look. Observing his photographs, one can get an insight into what life back then was like. He is one of the best photographers from Berlin, who worked in the documentary genre
3 – Esther Teichmann
Her works inspire me a lot. She is an artist-photographer. This is the case when photography is a way to express one’s artistic vision. Her photographs, like the one above, evoke a lot of emotions and make the mind wonder and imagine. I encourage you to visit her website and see more of her works, there’s a lot to learn! Her works are showing the mystery that often lacks our everyday life and I wish you to experience that.
4 – Alex Hütte
He is a photographer from Essen NRW. I love how his works show nature in a stylised way. It feels like we don’t see just nature and simple landscapes, but notice some connection between the photographer and his subject. The photograph above again makes me want to go into this deep dark forest and explore the stories and mysteries I may find there. I’m glad that I found his works and can see through his body of work.
5 – Andreas Gursky
Andreas Gursky is a Düsseldorf based photographer. I think, his works should be seen in big formats. So if you can visit one of his exhibitions – do that! A lot of his works have a very deep depth of field and as you can see in the attached picture, shapes are playing probably the biggest role in his works. I enjoy when usual objects in his photographs become big masses of shapes that engage with each other creating the flow of his compositions. Sometimes I can see a lot of dynamics, and sometimes they are completely static and unmovable and seem to stay like that forever.
There’s more to come
These are of course not all of the best photographers from Berlin and Germany. Later I plan to complete this list. These photographers are the ones whose works also inspire me and who captured something beyond reality. For me, photography is a way to explore the way we look at the world, and, what I value the most, is when photographs dive deeper into something unconscious and the photographs that you not simply see but experience.
I work as a portrait and fine art photographer in Vienna and write this blog about photography. Photography is not as a job for me, but rather a way of living.
I hope you enjoyed learning about these best photographers from Berlin and Germany and found something new for yourself.
If you’d like to check out the best locations for photography in Berlin here is the blog post:
10 Best Photography Locations In Berlin You Should Check Out.
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Best photographers from Berlin by Fedor Vasilev
