F.C. Gundlach celebrated his 90th birthday

 On July 16, F.C. Gundlach, the grand seigneur of photography, celebrated his 90th birthday.

Photography has always determined F.C. Gundlach's life as a photographer, gallery owner, collector, exhibition organizer, teacher, museum director, founder and patron.

His activities have made a major contribution to the city of Hamburg's international reputation as a city of photography and photographers.
The early years

F.C. Gundlach, born July 16, 1926, is one of the most famous fashion photographers of the second half of the 20th century. Many of his pictures are now anchored as icons in the cultural memory of images.
Master of elegance

F.C. Gundlach went to Paris for the first time in 1950. Homestories of film stars and first fashion pictures. But fashion and fashion photography also flourished in Germany. The elegant lifestyle magazine "Film und Frau" became F.C. Gundlach's biggest customer in 1953. By 1963 he had photographed over 3,500 pages for the editorial section and more than 100 covers.

In addition to fashion shots, he produced numerous travel reports all over the world, which he was able to produce from 1956 onwards on the basis of his exclusive contract with Lufthansa.

From 1963 F.C. Gundlach worked for the Brigitte and began working on the then still new and at first critically eyed Prêt-à-porter. An intensive collaboration began: until 1989 he photographed a total of more than 160 covers 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 dedicated himself to the medium of photography in the museum sense.
The Entrepreneur

He founded CC (Creative Colour) as early as 1967, followed by PPS in 1971. (Professional Photo Service), a service company for professional photographers, in 1975 the associated PPS. Galerie, one of the first galleries for photography in Germany with a worldwide reputation. Here F.C. Gundlach presents more than 100 exhibitions from 1975 to 1992.
Commitment to photography

F.C. Gundlach also curates pioneering exhibitions for museums such as the Kölner Kunstverein, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe and of course the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. In 1999 he initiated the Triennale der Photograhpie, which has since offered photography a place in Hamburg every three years. In 2003 he was appointed founding director of the House of Photography by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and thus created a new innovative platform for dealing with the medium of photography in the Deichtorhallen.
The Collector and Founder

Since the early 1980s, his attention has increasingly focused on the collection of photographic works and the conception of photographic exhibitions and book publications. Numerous awards and honours such as the honorary professorship of the HFBK, the Federal Cross of Merit and the Henri Nannen Prize distinguish his efforts in the medium of photography. In 2000, he founded the F.C. Gundlach Foundation to secure his life's work and his extensive collection in the long term. It is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of his collection and his life's work. With the founding of the House of Photography, he made the central part of his collection with the theme "The Image of Man in Photography" available to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on permanent loan.

F.C. Gundlach is still active today: as a producer of renowned national and international exhibition projects, promoter of young photographic talents, preserver of extraordinary photographic estates as well as consultant and visionary in the sense of the medium of photography.

For press or picture inquiries please contact Jasmin Seck: seck@fcgundlach.de