Alberto Schommer García (9 August 1928 – 10 September 2015) was a Spanish photographer.

Biography

Alberto Schommer was born in

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was introduced to the skill of photography from his father, a photographer from Vitoria who immigrated from Germany, , where he opened a studio during the 1940s. Later, Schommer was academically trained in the field of this art in the German city of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The Spanish government awarded him the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2008 and the National Prize of Photography in 2013. In 1996 he became a member of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

. In recognition of his career as a photographer and having become a person of prestige in the photographic field, his hometown (Vitoria) has a street named in his honor in the district of Adurza. He died on September 10, 2015, in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

, at 87 years of age due to respiratory problems caused by cancer.

Works

Throughout his history, he has travelled throughout the world with hundreds of jobs, having released nearly a hundred books and working as a professor at prestigious seminars or contests. His work has been exhibited across the width of the entire world, from Japan to the United States (Center for Creative Photography in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

) and has received numerous awards for his work. One of his best known works are his portraits, which reached the public through his collaboration with the newspaper

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

. These portraits, mainly recognized regionally, but also was globally recognized by figures such as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and other Spanish life personalities have recognized his best works. In this famous series, called ''Retratos psicológicos'' showed power, economy and culture. His peculiar way of approaching the portrait had a great impact in the seventies and eighties, and his photographs will become a visual chronicle of the Transition. Despite his age, Alberto Schommer followed professionally as active as ever until his death in 2015.

Expositions

*''Masks'',

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

(

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

)

Books

*Las fotos psicológicas (1975) *La vida en los museos (1998) *Autobiografía de un madrileño (2000) *Egipto: Lo eterno (2000) *Shanghái (2000) *Brasil: El hombre que veía demasiado (2000) *El arte de la mirada (2002) *Paisajes ordenados (2002) *Alberto Schommer (Photobolsillo) (2002) *Metrópolis. Archivo municipal de Vitoria-Gasteiz (2003) *La belleza oculta: Libia ND/DSC (2004) *Un cuerpo vivo: La catedral de Santa María de Vitoria-Gasteiz (2007) *Primera época (2007) *Trasfiguración (2008) *Metro (2010)

References

1928 births 2015 deaths Spanish photographers People from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish people of German descent {{Europe-photographer-stub