The Photographer Reinhart Wolf

Reinhart Wolf (1930-1988) was influential on advertising, design, and especially food photography in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He was a founding member and president of the Art Director's Club in Germany and New York and a winner of the Culture Award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie. His series on the architecture of the castles in Spain, the skyscrapers in New York, and the brick buildings in Hamburg gained him a foothold in the museum scene. His work has been honored in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide.

After his untimely death in 1988, it was thanks to a handful of dedicated friends and colleagues that Reinhart Wolf's life's work was preserved and repeatedly made visible through publications and projects. In addition to F.C. Gundlach, this was primarily the advisory board of the "Reinhart Wolf Photographic Foundation" established by Reinhart Wolf in 1988, led by Christian von Alvensleben and Peter Preller, who dedicated themselves to preserving the memory of Reinhart Wolf and his influential work. Christian von Alvensleben was thus able to save the working proofs and slides from destruction in an agency basement and, together with Jutta Buer, transfer them to the care of the stern picture archive, where they remained safely stored until 2013. He also played a key role in the realization of the portfolio published in 1995 in dye transfer, featuring 20 motifs from the series New York, Spanische Castillos, and Norddeutsche Backsteinarchitektur.

In 2013, approximately 13,000 slides from Reinhart Wolf's estate were added to the photographers' archive at the Deutsche Fotothek Dresden, where more than 600 images were digitally made visible. The close cooperation between the F.C. Gundlach Foundation and the Deutsche Fotothek ensures the continued collaboration with Reinhart Wolf's work, which is revived for posterity in projects and exhibitions from the photographic estate.