Thomas Rusch (born October 10, 1962 in
Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
) is a German
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs.
Duties and types of photograp ...
living in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
Life and work
After finishing school, Thomas Rusch moved to Hamburg in 1981 to start his education as photographer. His first publication was a series of portraits at
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany.
History
The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...
published in weekly magazine
Stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...
. This was followed by a long-term cooperation with Stern, in which Thomas Rusch published many reportages, portraits and cover pictures. At the end of the 1990s Thomas Rusch's portraits of well-known celebrities were published in magazines like
Zeitmagazin,
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
,
Max
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
and
GQ. At the same time, Rusch showed his artistical work, e.g. ''Paradise Lost'', ''Cirque O'', and ''Die Ecke'' (''The Corner''), in price-winning exhibitions around the world.
From the late 1990s on, Thomas Rusch lived in Paris. He worked as a beauty- and fashion photographer and published his work in indie publications like Soon, Tank, and Oyster, as well as in numerous international fashion- and lifestyle magazines. Rusch shot campaigns (e.g. for Ray Ban, Beck's, Seat) and developed his own artistical projects.
Since 2006, Thomas Rusch is commuting between Paris, Hamburg and Berlin. He is still working for editorials and advertising, but at the same time he is focussing on his work as an artist. In his freelanced projects, Thomas Rusch is concerned with the subjects of sexuality,
representation of women in western society, and
fetishism
A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent non-material value, or powers, to an object. Talismans and amulet ...
. He likes to examine their ambivalent qualities between the private and the public, art and commerce - oscillating between a clear emphasis on naturalness and an exaggeration of superficiality. His last exhibitions were focussing on themes like
mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
s (''Behind'', 2010, portraits of faces with heavy make-up) and skin (''A Fleur de Peau'', 2014, studies on the subject of skin)
[official press release]
"Galerie Bettina Von Arnim – Photographies d’art"
Retrieved on 15 September 2014.
Exhibitions
* 2014 A Fleur de Peau, Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris
* 2013 Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris
* 2010 Behind, Stageback Gallery, Shanghai
* 2009 Homage to Irving Penn, Galerie Hiltawsky, Hamburg/Berlin
* 2008 Play, Galerie Chappe, Paris
* 2002 Die Ästhetik der Lüste, Fotomuseum Leipzig
* 2002 Icon, Aplanat Galerie, Hamburg
* 2001 Jolis Momes, Acte 2, Paris
* 2000 Die Ästhetik der Lüste, Fotomuseum Leipzig
* 1996 Erotik in Deutschland, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
* 1995-2012 Bildermode – Modebilder. German fashion photography. Curated by F.C. Gundlach, stations in New York, Milan, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Lisbon, a.o.
* 1995 Die Ecke, Image-Kastannus Oy, Helsinki
* 1994 Zeitgeist Becomes Form, Goethe-Institut, New York
* 1993 Paradise Lost, Kulturzentrum Gasteig, Munich
* 1993 Alexandra S., Deutsche Fototage, Frankfurt
* 1992 Internationaler Salon für Fotografie + Design, Cologne
* 1992 Die Ecke, Galerie Rahmel – 17 Subway Stations, Cologne
* 1992 Paradise Lost, PPS Galerie F.C. Gundlach, Sheila Metzner + Thomas Rusch, Hamburg
* 1992 Paradise Lost, Museo Ken Damy, Brescia
* 1991 Modewelten, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
* 1990 Paradise Lost, Museum House of Painters, Moscow
* 1987 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Grauwert Galerie, Hamburg
Awards
* 4x Art Directors Club, Germany
* Art Directors Club of Europe
* 2008 SPD Award, New York
* 2006 FWA Red Dot Award
* 2004 Canon ProFashional Photo Award
* 1992 Kodak Portrait Award
* 1991, 1987 Kodak European Award
Collections
* Second Bert Hartkamp Collection, Amsterdam
* F.C. Gundlach Collection, Hamburg
*
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
* The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
* Museo Ken Damy, Brescia
Literature
* 2010 ''Thomas Rusch. The Artificial Face – mask and masquerade'', in: Eyemazing, Issue 3, 2010. ASIN: B00510IC4A
* 2010 ''Blink Magazine. Contemporary Photography'', No. 5,
* 2010 ''Blink Magazine. Contemporary Photography'', No. 1
* 2006 ''All Allure'', edited by Robert Klanten, Berlin, Die Gestalten Verlag.
* 2002 ''Thomas Rusch - Icon'', with texts by Hellmut Karasek and Wolfgang Behnken, Hamburg, Aplanat Edition.
* 1997 ''Surrealities'', edited by Andreas Peyerl, Robert Klanten, Berlin, Die Gestalten Verlag.
* 1995 ''Bildermode – Modebilder. Deutsche Modephotographien von 1945 bis 1995'', edited Wulf Herzogenrath, with texts by F.C. Gundlach, K. Honnef, E. Kaufold, Berlin, IFA. ASIN: B00B59NXOK
* 1992 ''Thomas Rusch - Paradise Lost'', with text by Shuhei Takahashi, Tokio, Treville.
* 1988 ''Sinfonien in Herrenhäusern und Scheunen. Das Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival'', edited by Werner Burkhardt et al., Hamburg, Rasch und Röhring Verlag.
External links
* http://www.thomasrusch.org
* http://www.thomasrusch.com
* http://www.galeriebettina.com
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusch, Thomas
1962 births
Living people
20th-century German photographers
21st-century German photographers
Artists from Freiburg im Breisgau
Photographers from Baden-Württemberg