F.C. Gundlach 1926 – 2021 | A Tribute

Photography defined his life; it was his passion and his lifeblood. F.C. Gundlach died on July 23, 2021, at the age of 95.

F.C. Gundlach (Prof. Franz Christian Gundlach, born on July 16, 1926, in Heinebach, Hesse) was considered a grand master of German fashion photography. For over four decades, he shaped our collective image of fashion and people. F.C. Gundlach photographed international stars such as Romy Schneider, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Luc Godard, and Cary Grant. He traveled the world for Lufthansa, his photographs were published thousands of times, and today they can be seen in renowned museums and galleries.

Since the early 1980s, F.C. Gundlach's attention has increasingly focused on collecting photographic works and conceiving photographic exhibitions and book publications. As a collector, benefactor, and founding director of the House of Photography at the Deichtorhallen, he has championed all aspects and forms of expression of his medium as a cultural asset.

Numerous awards and honors, such as an honorary professorship at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK), the Federal Cross of Merit, and the Henri Nannen Prize, recognize his contributions to the medium of photography. To ensure the long-term preservation of his life's work and his extensive collection, he established the F.C. Gundlach Foundation in 2000. This foundation is dedicated to the preservation of his collection and his legacy. With the founding of the House of Photography in 2003, he placed his collection on permanent loan to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

F.C. Gundlach remained active well into old age: as a producer of renowned national and international exhibition projects, a patron of young talent, a custodian of extraordinary photographic legacies, and an advisor and visionary in the field of photography. Wim Wenders said of F.C. Gundlach: "No one in this country embodies photography like you. What photography means in Germany is shaped by you, as a tightrope walker between fiction and reality, by your eye, your keen mind, your feeling for what is contemporary, present, and historically relevant, as well as for what is new, innovative, and future-oriented." His legacy will have a lasting impact.

The exhibition is a spontaneous collaboration between the F.C. Gundlach Foundation and the Sfeir-Semler Gallery. It is a tribute to F.C. Gundlach, whose work has shaped four decades of photographic history.

Sfeir-Semler Gallery
Admiralitätstrasse 71
D-20459 Hamburg

040 37 51 99 40
galerie@sfeir-semler.com