Born in Esslingen in 1936, Blum already discovered photographer as a youngster. After starting out with his father’s camera, he used a Retina 1a before purchasing his first Leica. The Leica IIIf was followed by other models. After graduating from high school and training in business, he started working free-lance in 1964, taking pictures for numerous magazines and clients. His pictures and series have appeared, among others, in Stern, Spiegel, National Geographic and Vanity Fair. Among his best-known motifs are his cowboy pictures for cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris’s Malboro campaign. Blum photographs artists and politicians, though he has had a special interest in the worlds of dance and music for many years. He has published over seventy photo books and his work has been shown in many exhibitions. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
