Dieter Blum

Blum began taking photographs ambitiously as a teenager, became a member of the “lichtbildnergruppe esslingen” early on, worked as a curator of the European photo projects and founded his own studio. From 1971 onwards he created his first photo series for the magazine “Stern”, for which he worked as a freelance photographer for 29 years. His photos and reports subsequently appear in Spiegel, Zeit Magazin, Vanity Fair, Time Magazine and Geo, among others. Own publications and opulent illustrated books in very large editions were created, including: 1976, Africa - Fascination of a Continent; 1980, USSR – voyage of discovery to a rich country; 1984, Nippon – The new superstate Japan. In total, Dieter Blum has published over sixty books over the course of almost 40 years of work.\

Dieter Blum has been traveling around the world as a chronicler since the mid-1960s. He accompanied, among others, Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (1981) in rehearsals, performances and on tour, or - in 2005/2006 - the then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for eighteen months. In his freelance work, which is largely dedicated to dance, as a photographer and director he creates images with high aesthetic standards and erotic charisma. His exhibitions with these images Body Cathedrals (2003/04) became a sensation in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Dieter Blum received the greatest international attention for a cigarette-campaign, which he played a key role in shaping from 1992 to 2004 as one of two European photographers. The images and the appeal of freedom and adventure they claim have made it into one of the most successful campaigns ever. A German photographer who captures the genuinely American myth so well that the well-known US artist Richard Prince uses it in his work.

Exhibitions

• 1972 photokina solo exhibition: The Adventure
• 1976 Africa City Museum Munich1982 Museum of Ethnology-Hamburg USSR
• 1987 Kunsthalle Mannheim1987 Kodak Gallery Tokyo, Ginza
• 1994 Galerie Holtmann Cologne
• 1995 Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart  
• 1996 State Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage
• 1997 Frankfurter Kunstverein
• 1998 German Dance Archive Cologne - SK Stiftung Kultur
• 1999 Museum of cultures Basel-Basler Fasnacht2003 Gallery of the City of Stuttgart
• 2003/2004 State Russian Museum St.Petersburg
• 2004 Museum of Photography Moscow
• 2005 Venice Biennale
• 2005 Galerie Terminus München
• 2006 Galerie Vonderbank Frankfurt/Main
• 2007 Gallery Frankfurt
• 2009 Floor 2 Gallery, Rottweil
• 2010 The Amen Break, Gallery Thomas Flor
• 2011 Esslinger Kunstverein, Villa Merkel Esslingen
• 2015 The Photographer, Venet-Haus Galerie, Neu-Ulm
• 2015 Galerie Atelier Gustave, Paris
• 2016 foto.com, Esslinger Kunstverein, Villa Merkel Esslingen.
• 2016 Cowboys, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin
• 2017 Blue Horses, „Missed. The Tower of the Blue Horses by Franz Marc“, Staatl.Graph.Sammlung Munich
• 2018 Cowboys - The First shooting
• 1992, The Granary Art Gallery, Weston Park (GB)2018 Wild Dancers, Leica Gallery, Konstanz
• 2021 Blue Horses, photo sculpture, Venet-Haus Gallery, Neu-Ulm

Awards

• 1969 Gold and Honorary Award, International Photo Salon de Bordeaux
• 1972 Obelisk, for the exhibition: The African Adventure, Photokina
• 1982 Word Press Photo Award, for the pictures of the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan in the Stern
• 2001 Staufer Medal for the book: The River of Life
• 2002 Art Directors Club for Marlboro
• 2015 Grande médaille de Vermeil, Arts-Sciences-Lettres