Thomas Hoepker (German: ''Thomas Höpker''; born 10 June 1936) is a German photographer and member of Magnum Photos. He is known for stylish color photo features. He also documented the

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

World Trade Center destruction. Hoepker originally made a name for himself in the 1960s as a photojournalist with a desire to photograph human conditions.

Life and work

Hoepker was born in Munich, Germany. He first began taking pictures when he was 16 and received an old 9x12 glass plate camera from his grandfather. He developed his prints in his family's kitchen and bathroom, and began to earn a little money by selling pictures to friends and classmates. Hoepker studied art history and archaeology from 1956 to 1959 in Göttingen, Germany, where he learned about understanding images and composition. While in school he continued to photograph and sell images to help finance his education. From 1960 to 1963 he worked as a photographer for Münchner Illustrierte and Kristall, reporting from around the world. Then in 1964 he began working as a photojournalist for ''

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. Ori ...

.'' In the 1970s he also worked as a cameraman for German TV, making documentary films. In 1976 he and his wife, journalist Eva Windmoeller, relocated to New York City as correspondents for ''Stern.'' From 1978 to 1981 he was director of photography for American

Geo Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...

. From 1987 to 1989 Hoepker was based in Hamburg, working as art director for ''Stern.'' Magnum Photos first began distributing Hoepker's photographs in 1964. He became a full member in 1989. He served as Magnum President from 2003 to 2006. For much of his career Hoepker used

Leica Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetzlar, Germany. ...

cameras. In the 1970s he began to also use

single-lens reflex camera A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...

s alongside his Leica, using Leicas for wide angle shots and Nikon or Canon cameras with zoom lenses. In 2002 he began using digital SLRs. Today, Hoepker lives in New York City with his second wife Christine Kruchen, with whom he produces TV documentaries.

Bibliography

*''Jugend in dieser Zeit'', Steingrüben, Germany, 1957 *''Finnland, Terra Magica'', Germany, 1960 *''Lebendiges Kiel, Presseamt der Stadt Kiel'', Germany, 1963 *''Yatun papa. Father of the Indians. Dr. Theodor Binder'', Kosmos, Germany, 1963 *''Horst Janssen, artist’s portraits'', Galerie Brockstedt, Germany, 1967 *''Die Iren und ihre Lieder, (The Irish and their songs)'', Germany, 1974 *''Berliner Wände'', C. Hanser, Germany, 1976 *''Heinz Mack, Expedition in künstliche Gärten. Art in Desert and Ice'', Sternbuch, Germany, 1977 *''Vienna'', Time/Life books, Holland, 1978 *''Thomas Höpker (I Grandi Fotografi)'', Rizzoli, Italy, 1983 *''Die New York-Story'', GEO Buch, Germany, 1983 *''Now!'' Überdosis New York/ HA Schult., Germany, 1984 *''Der Wahn vom Weltreich: Germany’s former Colonies'', Sternbuch, Germany, 1984 *''Ansichten.Fotos von 1960 bis 1985'', Braus, Heidelberg, Germany, 1985 *''Leben in der DDR. Life in East Germany'', Sternbuch, Germany, 1985 *''Amerika: History of the discovery from Florida to Canada'', Germany, 1986 *''HA Schult'', New York ist Berlin, Germany, 1986 *''New Yorker: 50 unusual portraits'', Stemmle, Schaffhausen, Germany, 1987 *''Rome'', Hofmann & Campe, Germany, 1988 *''HA Schult'', Fetisch Auto, Germany, 1989 *''Land of Enchantment, New Mexico'', Philip-Morris books, Germany, 1991 *''Return of the Maya: Guatemala. A Tale of Survival'', Henry Holt, USA, 1998. *''Thomas Hoepker, Photographien 1955-2005'', Schirmer & Mosel, Germany, 2005. *''Champ,'' Berlin: Peperoni, 2012. *''Thomas Hoepker, New York'', teNeues, Germany, 2013. *''Heartland.'' Berlin: Peperoni, 2013. *''Wonderlust'' teNeues; Multilingual edition, 2014. *''Big Champ.'' Berlin: Peperoni, 2015.

Filmography

*''The Village Arabati'' (1973) *''Death in a Cornfield'' (1998) *''Robinson Crusoe Island'' (2000) *''Easter Island'' (2003) *''Ice-cold Splendor'' (2005)

Documentary

*''Dear Memories – Eine Reise mit dem Magnum-Fotografen Thomas Hoepker'' by Nahuel Lopez

Awards

* 1967: 3rd Place Award for Photo Stories, World Press Photo, Amsterdam * 1977: 1st Place Award for Art and Sciences, World Press Photo, Amsterdam * Leica Hall of Fame Induction,

Awards

Exhibitions

*Kunst und Gewerbe Museum, Hamburg, Germany, 1965 *Rizzoli Gallery, New York and Rizzoli Gallery, Washington D.C., 1976 *''Retrospective'', 25 cities in Germany, 1985–1987 *''The Maya'' Kunsthalle Cologne, Cologne, Germany, 1994 *''Retrospective'', Claus Tebbe Gallery, Cologne, Germany, 1995 *''Photographien 1955-2005'', Photomuseum, Munich, Germany, 2006 *''Heartland'', Leica Gallery Prague, Prague, Germany, 2014 *''Ali and Beyond'', Bildhalle Museum, Zürich, Switzerland, 2015

References

External links

Essay by Hoepker in ''Slate'' about one of his 9/11 photographs

Interview with Charlie Rose about photographing 9/11, recorded Oct. 31, 2001

Magnum Photos biography

Hoepker's portfolio at Magnum

Interview with HP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoepker, Thomas 1936 births Living people Photographers from Munich Magnum photographers German expatriates in the United States