Peter Lindbergh

(German, 1944–2019)

Peter Lindbergh was a photographer and video director credited with ushering in a new era of supermodel photography. Lindbergh was born on November 23, 1944, to German parents stationed in Leszno, Poland (then annexed by Nazi Germany). After the war, his family relocated to Duisberg, a coastal industrial town that would later influence the backdrops of his photography. Inspired by Joseph Kosuth, Lindbergh first studied abstract and Conceptual Art. Inspired by the documentary photography of Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Garry Winogrand, he developed a reputation for photogenic realism, in which objects and people—especially women—were shot in ostensibly pure, untouched states, wearing minimal make up and casually styled. This aesthetic would greatly impact the fashion industry and pop culture, as evidenced by Lindbergh’s January landmark 1990 British Vogue cover. Lindbergh has since shot numerous music videos and album covers, including Beyonce’s I Am... Sasha Fierce. Gagosian Gallery in Paris hosted his first solo exhibition in September 2014. The artist passed away at the age of 74 on September 3, 2019.