A TRIBUTE TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER OF OUR CAMPAIGN, JOACHIM BALDAUF
He doesn’t do ugly. Fashion photographer Joachim Baldauf is famous for capturing the elusive beauty and character of Germany. Reminiscing on why he began, he states “I started taking photographs myself because I lacked German elegance in fashion magazines”, the mission which has defined his oeuvre for the past 20 years.
His pictures reveal what the broader German community has to offer in terms of aesthetics, beauty, character and wit. Instead of focusing on provocative models, Baldauf positions his female protagonists as self-determined women. Between 1999 to 2002, Baldauf shaped the visual language of the international design magazine Wallpaper* creating imagery completely focused on object, spaces and colours.
Wallpaper* in turn, shaped the sleek and chic turn of the millennium. Born in the Allgäu, an area in the south of Germany, Baldauf is not afraid of using style elements from his home, and is often one step ahead of the zeitgeist admitting that “when I first took pictures of men with long beards, it was a shock for the industry”.
Baldauf has worked for all major German magazines as well as many international publications. In an industry built on narcissism, he has triumphed in letting his friendly reputation precede him. For him, style and humanity are not antagonists, but rather serve to enrich and complement each other. In his work he seeks to showcase the person that is the model, and the sculpture that is the dress.
“What happens when a woman feels comfortable at a fashion shoot, and you can see it?”, he had often wondered at the beginning of his career. To this day, it is a question he answers on a daily basis by providing space for his subjects, working through them and with them thereby being present in every picture himself. (Maria Exner online for time)
Images by Joachime Baldhauf can be seen in his exhibition “Gehirnstürme” (brain storms) until February 29th 2020. Leica Galerie in the KÖ Galerie (Königsallee 60) in Düsseldorf / Germany. t _+49 (0)211 54 28 27 26 Monday till Saturday from 10.00 until 20.00 h
