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Thomas Hoepker: Image Maker
Thomas Hoepker: Image Maker
Thomas Hoepker
March 31, 2022
Thomas Hoepker: Ali jumping, 1966
© Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
The Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar dedicates a comprehensive retrospective to the German Magnum photographer’s oeuvre. Open from April 1 to July 17, 2022.
Since the 1960s, Thomas Hoepker (b. 1936) has shaped German photojournalism like few others. His beginnings as a staff photographer for leading magazines, his career as a correspondent, as well as his work as an art director and Magnum photographer, have made him one of the most important representatives of empathic photojournalism of our time. Nevertheless the photographer, who was honoured with the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2014, has always remained humble – simply describing himself as an assignment photographer: an “image maker”.
The exhibition ‘Thomas Hoepker: Bilderfabrikant’ comprises the photographer’s most iconic colour and black-and-white images, including works from the series ‘Kristall’ (1963) about his discovery of the American Way of Life, his ‘Champ’ reportage about boxing legend Muhammad Ali (1966), images captured in 1960s India, his iconic picture of the burning World Trade Center (2011), his artistic portrait of Andy Warhol (1981), to name but a few.
For further information visit Ernst Leitz Museum
Since the 1960s, Thomas Hoepker (b. 1936) has shaped German photojournalism like few others. His beginnings as a staff photographer for leading magazines, his career as a correspondent, as well as his work as an art director and Magnum photographer, have made him one of the most important representatives of empathic photojournalism of our time. Nevertheless the photographer, who was honoured with the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2014, has always remained humble – simply describing himself as an assignment photographer: an “image maker”.
The exhibition ‘Thomas Hoepker: Bilderfabrikant’ comprises the photographer’s most iconic colour and black-and-white images, including works from the series ‘Kristall’ (1963) about his discovery of the American Way of Life, his ‘Champ’ reportage about boxing legend Muhammad Ali (1966), images captured in 1960s India, his iconic picture of the burning World Trade Center (2011), his artistic portrait of Andy Warhol (1981), to name but a few.
For further information visit Ernst Leitz Museum
ALL IMAGES ON THIS PAGE: © Thomas Hoepker
Thomas Hoepker+-
born in Munich in 1936. Early successes and awards. Photo reporter for the Münchner Illustrierten in 1960; as of 1962 member of the Kristall editorial team, then working for Stern as of 1964. In addition to black and white pictures, Hoepker is able to produce early colour pictures for the magazine. Here too, his Leica is his indispensable work tool. Starting in the 1970s, he also works as a cameraman producing numerous documentary and TV movies. Hoepker moves to New York in 1976, and from 1978 to 1981 is the Executive Editor of the American edition of GEO. He returns to Hamburg and works as Art Director for Stern's chief editorial team. In 1989 he becomes the first German member of the renowned Magnum Photos Agency, acting as its President from 2003 to 2007. He produces further documentaries with his second wife, the film maker Christine Kruchen. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Culture Prize of the German Photographic Society (DGPh) in 1968. In 2005, thousands of photographs are donated to the Photography Museum in the city of Munich. In 2014 Hoepker is honoured with the Leica Hall of Fame Award. After a long illness, he passed away on July 10, 2024 in Santiago de Chile. More
Thomas Hoepker: Ali jumping, 1966
© Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
Thomas Hoepker: USA, New York, NY, September 11, 2001. View from Brooklyn/Williamsburg towards Brooklyn Bridge and downtown Manhattan during the aftermath of the World Trade Center bombing © Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
Thomas Hoepker: USA, New York, Manhattan, 1981. Andy Warhol in his ‘Factory’ at Union Square. Double exposure © Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
Thomas Hoepker: USA, 2020. Town of Merkel in Texas
© Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
Thomas Hoepker: India, Bihar, 1967. Famine and smallpox epidemic. Villagers come out of their huts to beg for food © Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos