Wolf, Reinhart 1930-

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WOLF, Reinhart 1930-

PERSONAL: Born August 1, 1930, in Berlin, Germany. Education: Attended Wabash College, 1950-55; Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie, M.Photog., 1956.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 100 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011.

CAREER: Freelance fashion, advertising, and magazine photographer, 1958—; Reinhart Wolf (commercial photography studio), founder, 1958; Wolf und Partner GmbH (film company), founder, 1969. Meisterschule für Mode (college of fashion design), Hamburg, Germany, lecturer in photography, 1955-57; visiting lecturer at numerous schools and universities in West Germany, 1957—.

MEMBER: Art Directors Club of Germany (president, 1975-76).

AWARDS, HONORS: Europhot Master of Photography Award, 1971; Kulturpreis, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, 1982; Prize of Honor, Kulturbund (East Germany), 1982; Kodak-Steuben Award, 1984; gold and silver medals from Art Directors Clubs of Germany and New York; honorary member, Bund Freischaffender Foto-Designer, 1983.

WRITINGS:

Gesichter von Gebauden, text by Manfred Sack, Schmalfelt (Bremen, West Germany), 1980.

New York in Photographs, text by Edward Albee and Sabine Lietzmann, Vendome (New York, NY), 1980.

Castles in Spain, Abbeville (New York, NY), 1983.

Die neue alte Küche, [Hamburg, West Germany], 1983.

Drei-Sterne-Küche für Zuhause, [Munich, West Germany], 1984.

Gekochte Geschenke, [Munich, West Germany], 1985.

Agnes Amberg's Kochbuch, [Munich, West Germany], 1985.

China's Food: A Photographic Journey, Friendly Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Himmelzeichen, text by André Heller, [Munich, West Germany], 1985.

Japan: The Beauty of Food, text by Angela Terzani, Rizzoli (New York, NY), 1987.

Villas of the Veneto, text by Peter Lauritzen, Abrams (New York, NY), 1988.

Reinhart Wolf, text by Hans-Eberhard Hess, Ellert & Richter (Hamburg, West Germany), 1992.

SIDELIGHTS: Beginning as a technician, Reinhart Wolf developed a noteworthy proficiency in commercial photography, particularly in the advertising field, before attracting attention for his dramatic photographs of New York City, capturing an unseen beauty in the city often dismissed as a concrete wasteland. He followed this up with a more traditional subject, the castles of Spain, which further enhanced his artistic reputation. To the surprise of many, he turned back from monumental architecture to the more everyday subjects of commercial photography, focusing particularly on illustrations for cookbooks and publishing China's Food: A Photographic Journey.

In Villas of the Veneto, Wolf again changed course, back toward a more traditional aesthetic theme. The photographs capture the monumental houses built by such Renaissance masters as Palladio and his disciple Scamozzi, as well as lesser known architects of the period. "The actual physical or natural context of these villas is also explored in photographs of their garden and landscape. In a further subtheme, the integration of art and architecture is examined through sculpture and fresco," according to a reviewer for Progressive Architecture. As a commentator noted in Contemporary Photographers, "Anyone who looks carefully at the chronology of his photographic work will soon see that fantastic pictures always follow ones rooted in reality, and pictures of personal inspiration … follow others produced on commission."