Karsten Thormaehlen

Karsten Thormaehlen (born 1965, Bad Kreuznach, Germany) is a German photographer. He works in Frankfurt.

Life and work

Karsten Thormaehlen studied Philosophy, Art History and Design in Mainz and Wiesbaden. Between 1993 and 1998 he worked as an Art Director in New York City, where he developed advertising campaigns for luxury brands and met well-known photographers like Peter Lindbergh, Fabrizio Ferri, Nathanial Goldberg, Pamela Hanson or Patrick Demarchelier. His work received several awards and is displayed in international fashion and architecture magazines. Some of his fine art photography is part of private art collections in Europe, Asia, America or Australia and has been sold to raise money for charities.

Besides many German CEOs he also photographed many international well-established artists, designers, athletes and architects such as Nick Bollettieri, Sir Norman Foster, Djimon Hounsou, Heidi Klum, Diane Kruger, Alan Parker, Tobias Rehberger, Isabella Rossellini, Luc Tuymans. Among his commercial clients are companies like BMW, BNP Paribas, Bosch, JPMorgan, Messe Frankfurt, LufthansaWorldShop, Stihl, Symrise and Villeroy & Boch.

His freelance exhibition projects, installations of large format portraits, "Jahrhundertmensch" (English translation, Happy at One Hundred) (2008), of 100-year-old men and women, and "Silver Heroes" (2009), of old age athletes, are travelling through Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Karsten Thormaehlen is a member of the prestigious professional association BFF Stuttgart and Fotografie Forum International.

Thormaehlen's Erika E., born in 1910 was chosen for exhibition by the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the 2011 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.

Exhibitions

• 2011 "Jahrhundertmensch", Kunstforum BSH, Schwäbisch-Hall
• 2011 "Jahrhundertmensch", Pasinger Fabrik, Munich
• 2010 "Love Kills. Betting on the Muse." (Gruppenausstellung), Frankfurt am Main[[]]
• 2010 "Jahrhundertmensch", Waagehaus SBK, Cologne
• 2010 "WerkStadt" (Gruppenausstellung), BFF, Frankfurt am Main
• 2010 "Jahrhundertmensch", Haus am Dom|Zollamtsaal/MMK, Frankfurt am Main
• 2009 "Beam me up" (Gruppenausstellung), BFF, Frankfurt am Main
• 2009 Silver Heroes, Frankfurt City Public Health Department, 7 October 2009 – 12 November 2009
• 2009 Silver Heroes, Executive Campus HSG, vernissage on 2 September 2009
• 2008 - 2010 "Jahrhundertmensch", Bregenz, St. Gallen, Vienna, Davos, Neuwied, Karlsruhe, Ulm, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Schwäbisch-Hall, Mainz, Cologne, Munich
• 2008 "Facing Future" (group exhibition), studio55, Frankfurt am Main
• 2008 Sotheby's and Dresdner Bank beneficiary auction (group exhibition), Stuttgart
• 2007 "Prepositions I" (group exhibition), Altes Literaturhaus, Frankfurt am Main
• 2007 "Schaufenster" (group exhibition), Galerie Momentum, Vienna, Austria
• 2006 "Wild" (group exhibition), BFF-Junioren, Visual Galleries at photokina 2006, BFF
• 2005 "Hochglanz", Kunstverein Neckar-Odenwald, Buchen
• 2005 "The Nature of Skin" (group exhibition), Kunsthaus Hamburg, Dölling & Gallitz
• 2005 "The Ecstasy of Things" (group exhibition), Fotomuseum Winterthur, Steidl
• 2004 "Gold", BFF-Junioren, Visual Galleries at photokina 2004, BFF
• 2004 "Eccola Roma!", Haus des Gastes, Bad Kreuznach, teNeues
• 2003 "Bestandsaufnahme", Restaurant Weingewölbe, Bermersheim

Literature

• Heinke, Florian (October 2010). Love kills : "Betting on the Muse" Charles Bukowski (1920-1994); Eine Ausstellung von Florian Heinke und Sandra Mann. Dirty Lovers Books. ISBN 978-3-00-032479-6.
• Thormaelen, Thorsten (December 2008). Jahrhundertmensch. Moonblix. ISBN 978-3-00-025096-5.
• Straulino, Alexander (2006). Straulino Playtime. Daab Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937718-84-2.
• Schmolka, Mario (2005). Schmolka Intense. Daab Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937718-45-3.
• Arndt, Jochen (2005). Masako. Daab Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937718-29-3.
• Obermann, Bernd (2005). New York Moments. Daab Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937718-43-9.
• Poinsard, Bruno (2005). Poinsard Tropical Blen. Daab Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937718-44-6.
• Adami, Alexandra (2005). Beautiful Christmas Cards. teNeues. ISBN 978-3-8327-9093-6.
• Duttenhoefer, Thomas (2005). Stier Bischof Tod. Verlag Thormaehlen.
• Thormaehlen, Karsten (2004). Rome – Photographs. teNeues. ISBN 978-3-8238-4578-2.

External links

• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Mit Hundert hat man noch Träume
• Frankfurter Rundschau über Karsten Thormaehlen: Der Jahrhundert-Fotograf
• Literature by and about Karsten Thormaehlen in the German National Library catalogue
• Homepage von Karsten Thormaehlen
• Interview mit Karsten Thormaehlen auf den Seiten des Kunstvereins Neckar-Odenwald