Biography
Paul Albert Leitner trained as a photographer from 1973 to 1976; in 1984 he moved from Tyrol to Vienna and has worked as a freelance artist ever since. His photography is strongly influenced by his travels, he is said to keep "a travel diary in the photographic medium". For photography historian Marie Röbl, Leitner made a development from "staged photography, dedicated above all to a 'search for one’s own self-cognizance’ by means of collages, repainting, mirroring techniques, projections and shadow play”, to traditional “straight photography". Because of his pronounced drive to collect things photographically and in other ways, "he has to face an ever increasing torrent of images” and various other items he gathered while travelling, which he deals with “through an encyclopedic drive for ordering and cataloguing his inventory”. "Kunst und Leben" rt and Life - the title of an early book by him(still separated in the title of one of his early books) were thus interwoven from then on. His series “Exkurs über das Reisen” xcursus on Travelling in which he himself often took on the role of fictional characters, could be seen as a transitional phase. Book editor Rainer Iglar describes Leitner's photographic approach (2018): When he, who always travels and for whom "photography is the adequate means for the uninterrupted work on a poetic chronicle", returns home, he goes on "desk duty", he arranges and edits his pictures, he makes small prints from his 35mm color films and sticks them on labeled, titled and numbered index cards. Leitner's picture archive - his apartments have always been more like archives - comprises more than seventy thousand pictures from all over the world. Cultural journalist Johanna Hofleitner underlines his insistence on a working process developed for analog photographic workflows. In Leitner's travel photography, it is not "the exoticism of foreign worlds" that is decisive factor (Rainer Iglar), but rather "the recognition of the self" (Urs Stahel). In his "literary” photography, he pursues the "concept of a staged photograph that tells stories of an almost floating reality with romantic irony (and self-irony)." In his travel photographs, Leitner repeatedly appears as a protagonist. In these self-portraits, he emphatically adopts a certain pose, which he himself attributes toExhibitions (Selection)
Solo Exhibitions
* 2023 ''Mein Archiv wächst und ich bin 66''. FOTOHOF>ARCHIV, Salzburg * 2022 ''Míxtum Compósitum (Aus meinem Archiv). Fotografien.'' Galerie Rhomberg Innsbruck * 2012 ''Wie im Film'', Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin * 2011 ''Der Fotograf findet immer das Licht der Dämmerung und der Nacht'', Galerie Rhomberg, Innsbruck * 2010 Da Feng Art Gallery, 798 Art District, Peking, China * 2008 Art University of Isfahan, Iran * 2008 Faculty of Art and Architecture, Yazd, Iran * 2008 City Hall / Magnolia Hall, Lagos, Nigeria * 2007 ''Porträts von Künstlern und anderen Personen, Selbstporträts und Natur'', Kunsthalle Vienna Project Space, curated by Sabine Folie * 2005 Galerie Steinek, Vienna * 2001 ''New York – Senegal'', FOTOHOF, Salzburg * 2000 ''Kunst und Leben. Ein Roman'', Magazin 4, Bregenz * 1995 ''Totes Leben. Stilllebenvariationen'', Galerie Faber, Vienna * 1992 ''Exkurs über das Reisen'', FOTOHOF, Salzburg * 1990 ''Weltverwirrung'', Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main * 1989 ''Weltverwirrung'', Österreichisches Fotoarchiv im Museum moderner Kunst * 1988 ''Blauer Zufall am Horizont'', Grafisches Kabinett, Wiener Secession, Vienna * 1986 ''Fotografische Arbeiten'', FOTOHOF, SalzburgGroup Shows
* 2022 ''Two Sophisticated Austrian Artists in Self-Portraits.'' (Sabine Groschup und Paul Albert Leitner), Österreichisches Kulturforum Berlin (curated by Georg Weckwerth) * 2013 ''Fotos – Österreichische Fotografien von den 1930ern bis heute'', 21er Haus, Vienna * 2012 ''EYES ON THE CITY. Urbane Räume in der Gegenwartsfotografie'', Graz Museum * 2003 ''Go Johnny Go!'' curated by Wolfgang Kos and Thomas Mießgang. Kunsthalle Wien * 1997 ''Alpenblick. Die zeitgenössische Kunst und das Alpine'', Kunsthalle Wien * 1996 ''Antagonismes. 30 ans de la photographie autrichienne'', Centre national de la photographie, Paris * 1995 ''Fisch und Fleisch. Photographie aus Österreich 1945–1995'', Kunsthalle KremsPublications
* 2008 ''0-24''. Text by Thomas Mießgang. Salzburg: FOTOHOF>EDITION. ISBN 978-3-902675-02-6 * 2006 ''Wien: Momente einer Stadt. Fotografien''. Salzburg: FOTOHOF>EDITION. ISBN 978-3-901756-66-5 * 2005 ''Städte, Episoden''. Salzburg: FOTOHOF>EDITION. ISBN 3-901756-50-7 * 1999 ''Kunst und Leben. Ein Roman''. Salzburg: FOTOHOF>EDITION. ISBN 978-3-901756-15-3 * 1996 ''Bild und Abbild des jeweils anderen''. In cooperation with Georg Salner. Innsbruck: Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum * 1989 ''Weltverwirrung'', edited by Österreichisches Fotoarchiv im Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna * 1987 ''Blauer Zufall am Horizont''. Text by Otto Hochreiter. Ariadne Verlag, Vienna * 1983 ''Die Reise zum Heiligen Sebastian''. Texts by Peter Weiermair, Wolfgang Fetz and Gerald Matt. Sonderzahl Verlag, ViennaPublications in Magazines
* 1995 ''Wien: Momente einer Stadt''. In: Camera Austria, Issue 53, S. 40–48. ISSN 1015-1915 * 1995/96 ''Exkurs über das Reisen 1991 ff.'' In: Eikon. International Magazine for Photography and Media Art, Issue 16/17, S. 13–21. Vienna. ISSN 1024-1922Further reading
*External links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitner, Paul Albert 21st-century Austrian photographers Living people 1957 births Austrian artists