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OBSESSION: PHOTOGRAPHY

Above all in the eyes of the international art world, photography from Germany is regarded as unrivalled, and photographers such as Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Demand, Thomas Struth, Wolfgang Tillmans or Candida Höfer are recognised stars who command top fees, fill up museums and influence other media. Their influence derives from the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, a couple from Düsseldorf who trained many of the photographers mentioned here, and who are themselves internationally renowned for their photos of industrial buildings and half-timbered houses. But if one starts to discuss German fashion photography as such, things become very quiet. After F.C. Gundlach, there was no photographer of distinction who was both working in Germany and also internationally recognized. Well-known individuals such as Peter Lindbergh, Ellen von Unwerth, Jürgen Teller and many others have settled abroad, and publish their works there, too. This is surprising in a country where photography is a qualified profession, but the terrain is unmistakeably dominated by American, French and English photographers. In the past, the scene was dominated by photographers such as Richard Avedon of New York, Guy Bourdin of Paris, and David Bailey of London – today, names such as Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier and Craig McDean dominate the scene, and photograph for the most important magazines, such as the Italian and American editions of Vogue, and do advertising campaigns for houses such as Gucci, Dior and Prada.

This development is of course connected with the fact that Germany has no one, undisputed fashion capital, in the way that London or Paris are. Munich, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Berlin are all rivals for the title, and thus draw talented people to themselves, and also alienate them. Also, for a long time, there were no fashion designers who made a name for themselves internationally apart from Jil Sander and Wolfgang Joop. Germany has always been a country where "fashion" meant "ready-to-wear," where textile production is aimed at the the masses and has little to do with "class." In other words: we are used to seeing fashion be made by others, and thus no fashion photography originating in Germany has achieved international recognition until now.

But now things are changing. With Berlin emerging as Germany’s unofficial fashion capital, many young photographers have returned to their homeland after training abroad, to cultivate the fallow field of fashion photography here. As Achtung is foremost a photography magazine, here we show the list of our favorite fashion photographers. Have a look at their work, we think they a Germany’s future players in the field.

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