The Photographer Toni Schneiders

"I am a curious person, but I am serious about my work, and if I succeed in revealing just a little of the magic of light and a touch of poetry in my pictures, that is happiness enough for me." (Toni Schneiders)

Toni Schneiders, born in 1920, is one of the great German photographers of the 20th century. With his formal, creative approach and his compelling motifs, he contributed significantly to the renewal of photography after 1945. In 1949, he was a founding member of the "fotoform" group, which, through its artistic rigor, freed itself from the propaganda photography of the Nazi era and also distinguished itself from the pleasing postwar photography, thus gaining international recognition.

Toni Schneiders' photographs are characterized by formal rigor, virtuoso lighting, and a focus on essential visual elements. They are also permeated by the artist's deep interest in his subjects, whom he portrays sometimes melancholically, sometimes poetically, sometimes cheerfully, but always with great empathy. Thus, Toni Schneiders succeeded in combining the rigor of fotoform, which was based on the New Objectivity of the 1920s, with his very personal, sometimes even humorous perspective. His photographs have been published in more than 200 illustrated books.

The interplay of humanity, depth of content and formal rigor, which is reflected in his work, makes his works unique and a pleasure for the interested viewer.