Klaus Redenbacher
Brighton, Street Photographer, United Kingdom 1956
2025

About the Item

This black-and-white photograph, taken in Brighton in 1952, depicts a street photographer labeled "Official Beach Photographer," standing confidently with his vintage camera on a tripod. The photographer, dressed in a flat cap, layered clothing, and long coat characteristic of the early 1950s, gazes directly toward the viewer with a composed expression. The atmosphere is lively, capturing passersby and activity in the background, typical of a bustling seaside promenade. The architectural details suggest a covered walkway or pavilion, enhancing the authentic historical seaside vibe. Keywords: 1950s, Brighton, street photography, beach photographer, vintage camera, tripod, black-and-white, seaside, promenade, historical, everyday life, candid portrait, mid-century clothing, nostalgia. The print is new, a Fine Art Print on Illford Black and White Paper quality paper made by Whitewall. It comes to you in a tube. About Klaus Redenbacher "A photographer paints with the camera" (Augsburger Allgemeine, May 7/8, 1970) or "Pioneer and father of the modern color portrait" (Who's Who in Photo, Film & TV, circa 1980) are just a few examples of the press acclaim that describe Klaus Redenbacher’s photographic work and career, which spanned nearly five decades. Born in Nuremberg in 1935, he began an apprenticeship as a photo lab technician with portrait photographer Ludwig Harren in Nuremberg from 1952 to 1956, before enrolling at the Bavarian State Institute of Photography in Munich. His first professional steps followed as a fashion and advertising photographer for the Daco publishing house (Günther Bläse) and the Herrmann Bruder advertising agency in Stuttgart. In 1960, he passed his master craftsman's examination in photography, with a focus on portrait, fashion, industry, and advertising. He then worked as a freelance photojournalist. A photo report on Istanbul was published in Madame magazine and awarded first prize by the travel magazine Merian (1960/61). As part of the University of the Seven Seas program, Redenbacher served as a ship photographer aboard the intercontinental cruise ship MS Seven Seas in 1963/1964. He also produced advertising and industrial photography for companies such as Bayer AG, Electrostar, the Waldhof-Aschaffenburg paper mills, and Kodak. Starting in 1969, Redenbacher increasingly devoted himself to color portrait photography. In the same year, he took over the management of the ERTL photo studio in Augsburg. Two years later, in 1971, he opened his own studio at Martin-Luther-Str. 24 in Munich-Giesing, which remained a prominent address for portrait photography in Munich until 2004. Redenbacher achieved his greatest success in portrait photography, benefiting from his background in fashion and advertising as well as from the fact that German print media began introducing color photography in the second half of the 1950s, while traditional photographic portraiture was still primarily done in black and white. Ultimately, Redenbacher saw himself as a portrait photographer with an artistic, painterly ambition, whose work was largely informed by a journalistic approach in color. Over the course of his long career, he portrayed prominent figures such as writer and painter Jean Cocteau, composer Carl Orff, zoologist Konrad Lorenz, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Werner Heisenberg, and sculptor Helmut Lederer. For his achievements in portrait photography, he was awarded the Euro Medal for Art and Culture in Gold by the Baden-Baden Cultural Circle (1980) and the Gold Medal of the Accademia Italia delle Arti e del Lavoro, based in Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy (1982).

Creator:

Klaus Redenbacher (1935, German)

Creation Year:

2025

Dimensions:

Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 31.5 in (80 cm)Depth: 0.02 in (0.5 mm)

More Editions & Sizes:

80x80 Edition of 20Price: $2,238

Movement & Style:

Modern

Period:

1950-1959

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Cologne, DE

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU132216149482

More From This Seller

View All

JFK speaking - John F. Kennedy Election campaign 1960

By Rolf Gillhausen

Located in Cologne, DE

Born in Cologne in 1922, died in Hamburg in 2004. Apprenticeship as a machinist from 1937, then studied engineering (not completed due to the war). Served in the war and imprisoned....

Category

1960s Modern Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Rolf Gillhausen
JFK speaking - John F. Kennedy Election campaign 1960, 1960

$1,767

Located in Auburn Hills, MI

Héliogravure on vélin paper. Inscription: unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Cecil Beaton, Electa Editrice Portfolios, 1981. Published and pri...

Category