On July 16, 2016, F.C. Gundlach, the grand old man of photography, celebrated his 90th birthday. Photography has always defined F.C. Gundlach's life, as a photographer, gallery owner, collector, exhibition curator, teacher, museum director, patron, and benefactor. His activities have significantly contributed to Hamburg's international reputation as a city of photography and photographers.
The early years
F.C. Gundlach, born on July 16, 1926, is one of the most famous fashion photographers of the second half of the 20th century. Many of his images are now considered iconic and firmly established in the cultural visual memory.
Masters of elegance
In 1950, F.C. Gundlach traveled to Paris for the first time. He created home stories of film stars and his first fashion photographs. But fashion, and consequently fashion photography, was also flourishing in Germany. The elegant lifestyle magazine " Film und Frau" became F.C. Gundlach's largest client in 1953. By 1963, he had photographed over 3,500 pages for the magazine's editorial section and more than 100 cover images. In addition to fashion photography, he produced numerous travel reports from around the world, which he was able to realize from 1956 onwards thanks to his exclusive contract with Lufthansa.
From 1963, F.C. Gundlach worked for Brigitte magazine and began featuring the then-new and initially critically viewed prêt-à-porter. An intensive collaboration ensued: until 1989, he photographed more than 160 cover images and over 5,000 pages in the editorial fashion section. At the end of the 1980s, he ended his time as an active photographer and devoted himself to the medium of photography in a museum context.
The entrepreneur
F.C. Gundlach founded the company CC (Creative Colour) in 1967, followed in 1971 by PPS (Professional Photo Service), a service company for professional photographers, and in 1975 by the associated PPS Gallery, one of the first photography galleries in Germany with a worldwide reputation. F.C. Gundlach presented more than 100 exhibitions there between 1975 and 1992.
Commitment to photography
F.C. Gundlach also curated groundbreaking exhibitions for museums such as the Cologne Art Association, the Hamburg Art Gallery, the Museum of Arts and Crafts, and, of course, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. In 1999, he initiated the Triennial of Photography , which has since provided a platform for photography in Hamburg every three years. In 2003, he was appointed by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg as the founding director of the House of Photography, thus creating a new and innovative platform for engaging with the medium of photography at the Deichtorhallen.
The collector and donor
Since the early 1980s, F.C. Gundlach increasingly focused his attention on collecting photographic works and conceiving photographic exhibitions and book publications. 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 dedication 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 and presentation of his collection and his life's work. With the founding of the House of Photography, he placed the central part of his collection, focusing on the theme "The Image of Man in Photography," on permanent loan to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
F.C. Gundlach remains active to this day: as a producer of renowned national and international exhibition projects, a promoter of young photographic talents, a custodian of extraordinary photographic legacies, and a consultant and visionary in the sense of the medium of photography.
