Star Photographer F.C. Gundlach has died at the age of 95. The German photographer is mostly known for his famous post-war fashion photography, travelling across the globe with his camera.
Revered German fashion photographer and artist, F.C. Gundlach has died, only one week after his 95th birthday. The professional association of free photographers announced Gundlach’s passing on his website,
“Photography defined his life, it was his passion and his elixir of life.
Now F.C. Gundlach has died on July 23, 2021 at the age of 95. His legacy will live on.”Source: F.C. Gundlach
With his expert eye for detail, Gundlach remained an important figure in fashion photography for decades. The managing director of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation Sebastian Lux (49), confirmed that, “Mr. Gundlach slept peacefully in his room at the Elbschloss Residenz on Friday afternoon. It was a sudden death. with no previous illness.”
En Vogue
For decades, fashion photography has been responsible for expressing what’s en vogue. It’s an essential component of the fashion industry, constantly communicating and analysing trends – photographing fashion is an art form in its own right, which places fashion photography firmly into the context of visual art.
“F.C. Gundlachs passion was not just about photography; it was also about his collection of photographs and his own foundation. The fact that fashion is an interdisciplinary subject with an immediate impact on society and each individual person, has led sociologists and philosophers alike to analyse its complexities.”
Source: Uni Pub
In 1949, Gundlach worked as an operator in the Hollywood studios in Wiesbaden. This same year, he wrote his first theatrical and cinema reports in publications including “Deutsch Illustrierte,” “Quick,” “Film-Revue,” and “Der Stern.”
Trendsetting Pages
Whilst working for the Hamburg magazine Film und Frau in 1953, F.C. Gundlach began his speciality in fashion photography, journalism-style. He shot Berlin fashion designers, Haute Couture in Paris and various fur campaigns.
His body of work also includes fashion reportages with cinema stars in fashion and artist portraits, including Romy Schneider, Hildegard Knef, Dieter Borsche, and Jean-Luc Godard.
Gundlach also travelled throughout the Middle and Far East, as well as Central and South America, for publications such as Film und Frau, Stern, Annabelle, and Twen. He also photographed the trendsetting fashion pages of the magazine Brigitte under an exclusive contract until 1983, totalling more than 160 covers and 5,000 pages of editorial fashion.
Curator of the Arts
Aside from his photography, Gundlach was involved in a number of projects as a gallery owner, collector, speaker, curator, and arts patron. He founded “Galerie F.C. Gundlach” in 1976, one of the first photography galleries in Germany. The artist presented approximately 100 exhibitions over the subsequent two decades. Professor at the Academy of Arts in Berlin since 1988, he also worked as a curator in Hamburg, Berlin and abroad.
In the year 2000, he established the “Stiftung F.C. Gundlach” trust. From 2003 to 2005, Gundlach became the founding director and creative director of the House of Photography in Hamburg. Gundlach’s legacy lives on in his stunning body of work.
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