About the German photographer, Olaf Otto BECKER (b. 1959, in Travemünde)
From 1981 to 1986 Olaf Otto BECKER studied communication design in Augsburg, followed by studies in philosophy and political science in Munich. In his work he combines personal and artistic approach with documentary intention and socio-cultural questions. His landscape photographs is presented worldwide at international photography festivals, museums, and galleries, and they can be found in numerous private and public collections.
Photobooks by Olaf Otto BECKER
'Wasser in der Kunst: Vom Mittelalter bis heute' (Catalogue, 2004); 'Under the Nordic Light' (2005); 'Broken Line' (2007); 'Above Zero' (2009); 'The Altered Landscape: Photographs of a Changing Environment' (Catalogue, 2012); 'Under the Nordic Light. A Journey through Time. Iceland 1999–2011' (2012); 'Reading the Landscape' (2014); 'Landmark: Fields of Landscape Photography' (2014); 'Ilulissat. Sculptures of Change' (2017); 'The Way We Live Now' (Catalogue, 2018)
Awards
2005: Photography prize of the Bayerischer Journalisten Verband
2007: Deutscher Fotobuchpreis for 'Broken Line'
2008: LeadAward
2010: Photography prize of the Bayerischer Journalisten Verband
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions (a selection)
- 2003: Gallery Peter W. Hartmann, Munich
2004: Gallery av, Ludwigsburg
2005: Rotonda Gallery, Gallery Thomas Zander, Cologne
2006: Cohen Amador Gallery, New York; Gallery Münsterland, Emsdetten; Gallery Peter W. Hartmann, Munich
2007: Stephen Cohen Gallery, L.A. & Gallery Münsterland, Emsdetten
2008: Gallery f5,6, Munich & Cohen Amador Gallery, New York
2009: The National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; Cohen Amador Gallery, New York; Alfred-Ehrhardt-Stiftung, Cologne; Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen
2010: Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, USA; Goethe-Institut, Nancy; Gallery f5,6, Munich; Gallery Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam; Gallery Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg; Tekhne Architectes, Lyon
2011: Stadthaus Ulm
2012: Cohen Amador Gallery, New York; Gallery f5,6, Munich
2013: 'Reading the Landscape', Gallery Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg; 'Olaf Otto Becker. Work', Elipsis Gallery, Istanbul
2014: 'Reading the Landscape', Gallery W. van Leeuwen, Amsterdam
2015: 'Reading the Landscape', Gallery f5,6 Munich; 'Olaf Otto Becker. Work', Gallery Robert Morat, Hamburg; 'Ilulissat', Gallery Ruzicska Salzburg & Gallery Anteprima d’arte contemporanea, Rome,
2016: 'Sculptures of Change', Galerie f5,6, Munich
2018: 'Under the Nordic Light', The Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Iceland; 'Ilulissat', W. van Leeuwen Gallery, Amsterdam; 'Olaf Otto Becker. Work', Gallery Huxley Parlour, London
Group exhibitions (a selection):
- 2004: 'Wasser in der Kunst. Vom Mittelalter bis heute', Städtische Galerie Überlingen
2005: Gallery Thomas Zander, Paris Photo & Fotosommer Stuttgart
2006: Kunstverein Ebersberg
2007: Reykjavík Museum for Photography, Gallery f5,6 & Art Cologne
2008: 'Keine Angst', Kunstverein Ludwigshafen; New York Photo Festival; Art Basel; Visual Leader 2008 & Deichtorhallen Hamburg
2009: Ulsan International Photography Festival; Gallery f5,6, Munich; Gallery Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg; Gallery Marc Hoeppner, Essen; Arcadia, Clamp Art Gallery, New York; 'Gradwanderungen', Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren; The AIPAD Photography Show, New York; B-sides; Gallery f5,6, Munich
2010: Biennale internationale de l’image de Nancy; International Photo Festival, Breda; 'WEISS: Ice / White: Contemporary International Art', KISS, Untergröningen
2011: Gallery f5,6, Munich; 'Masterpieces', Gallery Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg; 'Alt + 1000. Festival de photographie de montagne', Rossinière, Switzerland; 'The Eye Is a Lonely Hunter: Images of Humankind', Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen
2012: 'State of the Art: New Contemporary Photography', NRW-Forum Düsseldorf; 'The Altered Landscape: Photographs of a Changing Environment', Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
2013: 'Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art 1775–2012', Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, USA
2014: Glenbow Museum, Calgary; El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; 'Seeing Glacial Time', Tufts University Art Gallery, Boston, USA
2015: 'Land Meets Water' (curated by Peter Galassi), Artipelag, Stockholm; 'Coping with Distance', Photoforum Pasquart Biel, SUI; McMichael Canadian Art Collection
2016: 'Noorderlicht Arena, Groningen; 'European Month of Photography', Cuco, Berlin; 'Longing for Landscape', Hermann von Helmholtz Zentrum, Berlin; 'World in Transition', Photobook Museum, Rostock; 'Wonders of the World', FFF Fotoforum Frankfurt
2017: 'The Vanishing Ice', David Brower Center in Berkeley, USA
2018: 'The Way We Live Now', National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Korea (MMCA); '33°', David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, USA; 'Sculptures of Change', Visual Arts Center der UT in Austin, Texas; 'The Vanishing Ice', Frederick Weisman Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis