I LOVE PICTURES

Photography is my language.

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Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer

Nachts

Book

Joachim Baldauf, renowned proponent of international fashion photography, presents a new, previously unknown side to his creative output. Inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Walpurgis Night” in the tragedy Faust I and II, his portraits, studio subjects, and outdoor themes illustrate its content with artistic freedom. Thrilling, revealing, and erotic, all leitmotifs tell their own story, complement each other, and spark the imagination. From analog photography via mixed reality to the use of artificial intelligence, Joachim Baldauf moves masterfully through a complex network of possibilities, true to the maxim “Consider What, more deeply consider How” (Faust II, Act II).

-Press release by ARNOLDSCHE ART PUBLISHERS

Softcover, 160 pages, 28,5 x 21,5 cm, German and English, 2025

Published by Iris Maria vom Hof and
ARNOLDSCHE ART PUBLISHERS

Person with red hair and dramatic makeup posing with tattoos and accessories on a black background, text reading "NACHTS Walpurgis Night's Dream."
Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer
Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer
Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer
Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer
Joachim Baldauf fashion photographer
Portrait of a man with facial piercings and tattoos, wearing a textured eye patch and headpiece, black and white.
Side profile of a shirtless man with a head covered in grass.
Circular hole surrounded by flames and smoke, with straw at the base against a dark background.

Iridescent

Exhibition and book

Since the world's first photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using the heliography process, photography became a mass medium. So far, trillions of photos have been taken and billions of new ones are added every year. Pictures can connect people and cultures, they are contemporary documents and reflexions of our world. Photos are also exaggeration, fantasy or utopia in the artistic expression. Since the development of Photoshop, neural filters and AI, the virtual world looks more and more real and has become part of our reality – fantasy and reality merge into a new visual aesthetic. For me, photography is the medium with which I transform my thoughts into images. In my opinion, only when artists make their inner being transparent, complexity and a certain truthfulness arises in the depiction.

Exhibition promotion poster

Book with softcover, 84 pages,
24 x 30 cm, German and English, 2023

Poster for "Iridescent" photo exhibition by Joachim Baldauf at Leica Galerie München. Features a close-up of a woman's face with bold text overlay, scheduled for July 21 to October 4, 2023. Exhibition address included.
Side-by-side text comparison in German and English discussing photography and the interpretation of images. German text on the left with white background, English text on the right with red background.
Double exposure of a woman's profile wearing a hat blended with cherry blossoms, creating a dreamy effect. The text on the side describes the symbolism of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture and their importance in the artist's work.
Black and white photo series of a man named Erdal Yildiz in Berlin, 2011. Left image depicts him in a crouched, contemplative pose. Right image is a close-up showing water streaming down his face, conveying intensity and emotion. Accompanying text highlights themes of hypermasculinity and vulnerability.
Retro-style building sign with cloudy sky backdrop, featuring the word "Moskau" prominently displayed, accompanied by architectural design elements. Text includes information about the building's cultural symbolism.
A black and white photograph of a woman in a long dress standing on an empty road with arms outstretched. The Berlin TV Tower and cityscape are visible in the background. Accompanying text is on a red background on the left side.
Digital artwork by Florian Pessenteiner featuring a surreal portrait of a person's face with abstract textures and patterns, noted as "The Vision #1 and #2" from Berlin 2008 / München 2023.

Zeitsprünge

Exhibition and book

The award-winning photographer Joachim Baldauf became internationally known in the  late 1990s when he became a style icon for a whole generation with his technically brilliant and artificial arrangements for WALLPAPER* magazine. Now 52 in 2022 photographed large-format tableaux are on display at the PHOTOPIA STREETSIDE GALLERY HAMBURG. The images are intended to show how surprisingly modern and thereby sustainable fashion from the past can appear when you look at it from a contemporary perspective. A catalogue with a foreword by Iris Maria vom Hof accompanies the exhibition.

-Press release by PHOTOPIA

Softcover, 68 pages, 17 x 22 cm, English, 2022

Joachim Baldauf Zeitsprünge Photopia

Passion

Book

The OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY was first performed in 1634 to fulfil a vow after the village survived the plague. In 2022, more than 1,500 people retell the story of Jesus of Nazareth, touching hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world with their performance directed by Christian Stückl.

But what happens if we meet the main actors off stage without their costumes? What is it like to draw close to the people involved and the roles they play? Something magical happens. Beyond the actors and their performances, we encounter the themes of life and death, guilt and redemption that the people of Oberammergau have been living for centuries – through a photograph by Joachim Baldauf.

-Press release by PRINTKULTUR

Softcover, 88 pages,17 x 24 cm, German and English, 2022


Gehirnstürme

Exhibition and book

Photography in the original sense writes, paints or draws with light. A photo triggers emotions in our brain and can cause BRAIN STORMS. There are photos that immediately catch our eye, photography that speaks a language that we do understand. And then there are images that irritate, ask questions. Subjects that we want to decrypt. Photos with a hidden meta level and multiple possibilities for interpretation. We keep asking ourselves what photography actually is. It's not just technology, image composition or image content, not just analog or digital, art or not art. It is communication.

Softcover, 112 pages, 21 x 29,7 cm, German and English, 2019

GEHIRNSTÜRME was the opening exhibition for the LEICA GALLERY DÜSSELDORF.

Close-up of a person with a bald head, light skin, and minimal facial features. An arm is raised, and fingers are gently placed near the head. Text reads 'Baldauf Gehirnstürme 2019/20'.

Fashionhaikus

I love haikus, the short Japanese poems and I love fashion. So it was obvious for me to create FASHIONHAIKUS. I wrote17 short poems – they are available on www.fashionhaikus.com. The typography comes from one of Germany's most awarded design studios: The poems were typeset by BÜRO UEBELE in UBER MASSIMO, designed by Andreas Uebele and Gabriel Richter.

Stylized text with phrases 'bling bling. glitzy glitzy. stop that shit!' on a gradient background.
Art gallery interior with framed photographs of people on walls; diverse styles and settings; bench in foreground; text "bling bling, glitzy glitzy, stop that shit!" on left wall.

Veza

Book

They exist, these truly special encounters. A meeting with a person who touches and accompanies you. I encountered one of these people in 1998. It’s really a day like many days. But this day becomes another day. I meet Veza. She is my model on this Tuesday in Munich. I will photograph her repeat edly over the next 18 years. This book dokuments our collaboration. It is also a testament to a deep friendship.

Softcover, 88 pages, 21 x 29,7 cm, German and English, 2017

A black and white portrait of a woman wearing a headpiece with flowers and netting, featuring text about the photo's era and the woman's name, Veza.

Photographs + The Wallpaper Years

Book

The book is beautifully designed by Albert Handler. It includes a conversation between Tyler Brûlé, the founder and former editorial director of WALLPAPER* and present editor-in-chief of MONOCLE, and Ariel Childs, the former photo editor at WALLPAPER*, essays by Tillmann Prüfer, an editor at DIE ZEIT and the style director at ZEIT MAGAZIN, preface by Uta Grosenick.

-Press release DISTANZ

Hardcover, 384 pages, 24,5 × 30,5 cm, German and English, 2013

Discover excerpts of the book >

Black and white cover of a book with a close-up of a man in a suit and a woman with braided hair about to kiss, featuring green text that reads "Joachim Baldauf Photographs: The Wallpaper Years."

Meissen Macht Ikonen

Exhibition and catalogue

For the 300th anniversary of the MEISSEN PORCELAIN MANUFACTORY I shot a total of thirty images around the myth, the legendary history and bright present of Meissen porcelain. The exhibition catalogue was produced in cooperation with Claudia Seidel as a curator and editor and Melanie Vorbeck as an art director.

Softcover, 66 pages, 28 x 34 cm, 2010


Discover excerpts of the exhibition >

Poster titled "MEISSEN MACHT IKONEN" with a black-and-white photo of a person wearing a crown and holding a ceramic piece, standing in an open field with buildings in the background. The poster is by Joachim Baldauf, with "MEISSEN Fine Art" branding.

Der subjektive Mann

Exhibition and book

The book by the well-known German fashion photographer Joachim Baldauf shows expressive male nude photography with high artistic standards in an unusually beautiful presentation.

–Press release by ABEBOOKS

Hardcover, 140 pages, 14,5 × 21,5 cm, German, 2006

Discover excerpts of the book >

Portrait of a bearded man with long hair on a black background.

Ask

Book and CD

The year is 1998. After initial experiments with digital photography, my first book ASK was published in collaboration with fashion designer Antje Drinkuth, graphic designer Dorothee Guther and composer José Salpietro. For the book we created photos with VIRTUAL PRODUCTS and a CD with AUDIBLE SCENTS. Some of the products that were utopian have now become reality. The JUDGE OF THE WORLD on the cover, who always makes the right decisions, unfortunately not yet.

Softcover, 36 pages, 10,5 x 14,8 cm, 1998

Close-up of a face partially wrapped with translucent strips.