Andreas Gursky  (German, 1955) 

Andreas Gursky (German, b.1955) is a photographer best known for his colorful, bold, large-format depictions of contemporary life. Gursky was born in Leipzig, Germany, and grew up in Düsseldorf, where his father worked as a commercial photographer. In his early 20s, he studied photography at the Folkwang School, West Germany’s leading establishment for professional photographers. His early, unadorned compositions are heavily influenced by his years at Folkwang, where the curriculum was largely focused on the straight-shot techniques of photojournalism. In the early 1980s, Gursky studied under the internationally recognized photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher (German, 1931–2007; German, b.1934) at the State Art Academy. During his years at the academy, Gursky was heavily influenced by the conceptual aesthetic philosophy of the Bechers, as well as his fellow students Sigmar Polke (German, 1941–2010) and Gerhard Richter (German, b.1932).

His early work was first considered to be an extension of the Becher aesthetic, but became recognized as uniquely ‘Gursky’ as he moved away from their teachings, producing large-scale color photographs with an almost manic documentation of detail. His mature work developed rapidly after 1990, as he began to focus on scenes and places representing the international sentiment of contemporary society. Excessive detail became a hallmark of his contemporary idiom, evident in photographs such as 99 Cent and the May Day series. Today his work continues to depict scenes occurring in immediately recognizable urban spaces, ranging from department stores and hotels to the German Parliament and the Chicago Board of Trade.