His work is intimate, impressive and without bias. Whenever Anatol Kotte approaches his protagonists, we are confronted with a moment of surprise, accuracy and pragmatism. His lens catches what many might find unexpected: the soft genuineness which signifies the strong emotional power of the character.
Contributed proudly presents the portraits of the following celebrities among many others: Vice chancellor Angela Merkel, Lenny Kravitz, Miss Piggy, Geraldine Chaplin, Roger Moore and John Cage.
Anatol Kotte is a german freelance photographer based in Hamburg. His works have been published i.a Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men’s Health, Vogue and ZEIT.

When the subject “loses” him or herself in mind and body during the photographic process the camera seems to disappear and wonderful things happen.  Michael Thompson has been making “wonderful things happen” in the pages of countless prestigious fashion magazines and ad campaigns. His 20 plus years of experience has helped the most renowned and sought after models and celebrities bare their personalities as well as their bodies on the printed page. “Iconic Bodies” is a collection of moments when the camera disappeared and the subject was truly revealed.

“The Rock Princess of Photography“
Before she returns to New York, the Berlin gallery CONTRIBUTED tributes a solo show to the special photographer Hadley Hudson. In 1994 the American for the first time came to europe, lived in Paris and Munich and discovered the Berlin scene for herself. She took pictures of Peaches in White Trash and Cobra Killer in Bastard, worked for Rolling Stone, 032c, Qvest, Liebling, Neon and DIE ZEIT; followed by publications in Self Service, the New York Times Magazine, the French Playboy and the British Vogue. Hadley Hudson’s works are marked with a mastered interplay between eroticism and punk, sensuality and excess. She symbolises the image of an epoch in which music and art come together and merge.

What is BL33N? Who is BL33N? Where is BL33N?
BL33N revolutionises a new form of art. Sexuality should not be forced into taboos, furthermore it should be recognised and celebrated. Music meets fashion meets photography meets sex meets the viewer. The significant aspect of this project is the interaction between made photographers, unknown artists and random images that fit and are seen as beautiful. Donovan & Matthias Vriens-McGrath show their perspective of the things and give the world a chance to see what they see: stuff they love.
Because not only the artists are BL33N, everyone is BL33N.

Classics, newly discovered: He was the avant-garde among the fashion photographers – »being creative and being innovative« his leitmotif. Mark Mender put his focus long before his colleagues on »location«. The setting defines his work and tells about exciting stories from all around the world. From Alaska to Vermont represents Mender the zeitgeists of a generation – the swinging sixties and saucy seventies have been barely better expressed by any other photographer. Despite huge protests of his clients, he stopped 1981 with photography to apply himself to computer animation. 2012 Mender decided to open his archive. CONTRIBUTED has the honour to present his first single exhibition.

In sixteen video studies Die Ärzte have let their “tonal destruction of expectations” translated in moved pictures by sixteen selected artists. Contentwise they merge stiffed photographic depictions of their own which simulate movement because of its fast sequel, depicted as metaphor on the illusion of the arts. The sixteen virtual worlds, passed through the avatars of Die Ärzte, have been constructed by the sixteen demiurges in a totally new and free way.

Opening: Friday, February 10, 7 pm

Exhibition: February 11 – April 11, 2012

We are celebrating 3 years of CONTRIBUTED with a big anniversary exhibition: The best of Fashion Photography by our favourite photographers.

The work of Vincent Peters is distinctive: cinematic, charismatic and very sexy. In his images he creates iconic landscapes that hark back to the days of old Hollywood in lightning and compositional style but with a sexual contemporary edge. Lightning plays a contructive key role for Peters: “I think it defines everything. You look at the same house, the same tree, the same building in different light and it’s a different subject. Everything can change. A person can change, personality, character, sensuality, everything changes in a particular light.”

Vincent Peters was born in Germany in 1969. Since 1998 he works as a professional photographer. He lives in Paris. His work has been published in Allure, Elle, GQ, Numéro, Vanity Fair & Vogue. His clients have included Bottega Veneta, Cartier, Celine, De Beers, Diesel, Emporio Armani, Guerlain, Hugo Boss, Joop!, Lancôme, Laura Biagotti, Levi’s, L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Nike, Sinja Rykiel, Versace, Viktoria’s Secret, La Perla, Yves Saint Laurent.

Contributed presents: SIMON EMMETT
Opening: Friday, September 30, 2011, 7 pm
Exhibition: October 1 – November 12, 2011

Simon Emmett is an English portrait photographer based in London, mostly known for his celebrity portraits and beauty photography.
Emmett has photographed for publications such as British GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview, L’Officiel, Numéro, Sunday Times Magazine, The New York Times, as well as for American, Australian, British, French, German and Russian Vogue.
His celebrity shots include Cameron Diaz, Lily Allen, Gemma Arterton, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Megan Fox, and Jay-Z.
CONTRIBUTED will host Simon Emmett’s first solo exhibition in Germany.

CONTRIBUTED is showing photo and video work which was created during the last MICHALSKY StyleNite in July 2011. The exhibition interprets the topic “Tolerance” from a different angle. Photos and videos illustrate the working environment of the well-known Berlin designer Michael Michalsky and also presents an emotional and artistic documentation of the MICHALSKY StyleNite.
The MICHALSKY fashion collection, inspired from Angela Merkels statement in which she declares that multiculti has failed, picks up several multicultural dess styles. The collection will be presented in a new additional facet: the making-of its fashion show presentation. Pictures from fittings, model castings, backstage preparations and the waiting moments present not only a concentrated but also poetic world. They communicate an emotional closeness in which its energy subsequently is unloaded on the catwalk.

Working for TUSH Magazine Ellen von Unwerth took photographs for a whole edition: Sexy, lascivious, provocative, playful, crazy – for the production of the next issue of TUSH the star photographer demonstrates the whole spectrum of her skills. Burlesque or sensual elements are being displayed in more than 70 pictures and single series like “Adore me” or “Trust me”. The key piece is the dark-amorous serial called “White Gothic”.  The complex photo production was realized by Nowadays Creative Production in Berlin. Along with the launch of the magazine the gallery Contributed shows the best motifs which are available in limited print runs.

Ellen von Unwerth is one of the best known female photographers in the world. She started her career joining the circus and working as a mannequin. Since 1988 her photographs can be seen in every international magazine. Additionally she shot countless campaigns for well-known designers and labels as well as portraits of international actors and musicians. Her books, titled “Snaps”, “Couples”, “Wicked”, “Revenge”, “Omahyra + Boyd”, “Fräulein” and “Die Spieler”, are bestsellers. In Germany, Ellen von Unwerth is represented by the gallery CAMERA WORK in Berlin.

TUSH has been founded by Armin Morbach in 2005 and sees itself as a society magazine with concentration on fashion and beauty. The magazine wants to entertain and inspire people on the highest level by investing lavishly in photo productions with internationally known and young photographers, renowned make-up artists and stylists while it also works with different text formats. It gets released every three months.

The exhibition takes place in cooperation with the gallery CAMERA WORK Berlin (www.camerawork.de).

www.tushmagazine.com

As an actress Margarita Broich is one of the big names, but it may come as a surprise to many that she is also a photographer. After a succesful show in Salzburg in 2009 the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin is holding a huge exhibition of her work parallel to the show at CONTRIBUTED consisting of over 60 portraits of her fellow artists, including Ben Becker, Kate Winslet, Veronika Ferres, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and many more. Margarita Broich has captured those fleeting moments when the actor sheds the role in the intervals or a few minutes after the end of a performance. CONTRIBUTED will not only present the best images of these portraits, but also unknown works together with a new series called „Westerwald“ that will premiere at the gallery.
Born in Neuwied in 1960, Margarita Broich initially studied photo design in Dortmund and worked as a theatrical photographer at the Bochum Schauspielhaus (Theatre) under Claus Peymann, before studying dramatic art herself at Berlin’s College of Arts. Since then she has appeared in numerous German-language stage performances and television dramas, working with such directors as Robert Wilson, Hermine Huntgeburth and, earlier, with Christoph Schlingensief.
Publication: Margarita Broich „Wenn der Vorhang fällt/When the curtain falls – Portraits“, Alexander Verlag Berlin, 2011, 96 pages, 28 Euro

http://www.margaritabroich.de/
http://www.alexander-verlag.com/
www.gropiusbau.de

Mary McCartney (b 1969) started her career as a photographer in 1995. Her work is reflection not only of Marys personal world, but of the unique relationships she establishes with the people she photographs, like Kate Moss, Helen Mirren, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tracey Emin, Stella McCartney or Paul McCartney. Her first book – From Where I Stand – combines those images with places and events as seen through Marys eyes: the intimacy of backstage preparations amoung the corps de ballet at the Royal Opera House, the raw energy of fashion shows and rock concerts, both on stage and off, the private spaces of home and family and the wittily observed vignettes of visual delight. CONTRIBUTED is proud to present the first soloshow of Mary McCartney in Germany.

Christophe Agou, Arif Asci, Narelle Autio, Polly Braden, Bang Byoung-Sang, Maciej Dakowicz, Carolyn Drake, Melanie Einzig, George Georgiou, David Gibson, Bruce Gilden, Thierry Girard, Andrew Z. Glickman, Siegfried Hansen, Markus Hartel, Nils Jorgensen, Richard Kalvar, Martin Kollar, Jens Olof Lasthein, Frederic Lezmi, Jesse Marlow, Jeff Mermelstein, Joel Meyerowitz, Mimi Mollica, Trent Parke, Martin Parr, Gus Powell, Mark Alor Powell, Bruno Quinquet, Paul Russell, Otto Snoek, Matt Stuart, Ying Tang, Nick Turpin, Munem Wasif, Alex Webb, Amani Willett, Michael Wolf, Artem Zhitenev, Wolfgang Zurborn.

In candid moments captured in split seconds, from parks and beaches to streets and shopping malls, street photographers reveal the humour and drama of the everyday. Street Photography Now brings the most up to date review of the current state of the genre in the world: the great masters, the emerging photographers, the new directions.
The exhibition has been produced by Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, with the support of Thames & Hudson and the School of Art, Media and Design of Newport University. Editors of the book „Street Photography Now“, Thames & Hudson, 2010: Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren.
Watch out for one of the most saught after books of this autumn (will be available at the gallery soon).
Street Photography Now on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Photography-Now/126996713990449
Street Photography Now Project:
http://streetphotographynowproject.wordpress.com/

Watch a guided video tour with Nadine Barth.

Tony Duran has photographed a virtual who’s who of the Hollywood and fashion set. Born in Winona, Minnesota, USA, he has no formal training in photography but relies more on his past of painting and drawing that give him the unique ability to capture a sensual side not often revealed in his subjects. The faces of Hollywood’s “A” list that have graced Duran’s lens include Sharon Stone, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, and Scarlett Johansson. A special relationship between Duran and Jennifer Lopez over the years has produced some of the most iconic photography of a single celebrity by one photographer. Duran’s editorial clients include GQ’s worldwide, Elle, Vanity Fair, Interview, Rolling Stone, Flaunt, Citizen K, Kurv, Esquire and Arena.

After Peter Lindbergh and Steven Klein Duran has been chosen to shoot the famous book calendar DIEUX DU STADE for its 10th anniversary in 2010. Within it, the rugby players of the club Stade Francaise Paris and their guests are photographed nude. A coffee table book with all photos of the shoot was just published by teNeues and will be available at the gallery.

Miles Aldridge’s pictures describe a glossy world, full of brightly illuminated, sexualized models in acid colours. With his cinematic compositions and dramatic situations his work offers a bright new vision of the post-modern world. Aldridge, born in 1964 in London, has had solo shows in London at Hamilton’s Gallery, in New York at The Steven Kasher Gallery, in the Netherlands at The Reflex Gallery and in Paris at Colette. His work was also showcased in The International Center of Photography group show, “Weird Beauty”. His photographs frequently appear on the pages of Vogue Italia. This year he shot the key visual for the Mercedes-Benz Fashionweek Berlin with Milla Jovovich.
CONTRIBUTED will host his first solo exhibition in Germany. “MILES ALDRIDGE: 13 Women” will be a comprehensive retrospective of his work exhibited as large scale prints. Also on show will be the rare limited-edition box sets. His three books “Acid Candy”, “The Cabinet” and “Kristen seen by Miles Aldridge and Chantal Joffe” (all published by Reflex Editions, Amsterdam) will all be available at the gallery.

]]> http://www.contributed.de/2010/07/01/13-women/feed/ http://www.contributed.de/2010/06/11/kma-kunstmeile-karl-marx-allee-dokumentation/ http://www.contributed.de/2010/06/11/kma-kunstmeile-karl-marx-allee-dokumentation/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:47:12 +0000 jo http://www.contributed.de/?p=485 Die Karl-Marx-Allee bildet ein neues Epizentrum in der Berliner Kunstszene.
Jan Fabritius und Michael Jochem dokumentieren hier den aktuellen Stand.

Ellen von Unwerth has photographed the German National Football Team for Strenesse wearing the Strenesse Menswear collection. The result is a book entitled “Die Spieler” (“The players”), a thriller movie without any words but with pictures that speak for themselves: performances as demonic as criminals in an Orson Welles production, as threatening as a Mafia boss in well known movies, as inscrutable as a detective in Edgar Wallace mysteries or with all the sex appeal of a Southern Italian macho. Strenesse AG has been the official outfitter of the German National Football Team since the 2006 World Cup. “Die Spieler”, published by Medienfabrik, Gütersloh, comprises 200 pages, costs €39,90 and is available at www.diespieler-dasbuch.de and www.strenesse.com as well as in bookstores and Strenesse Shops.

Gas stations, landscapes, and airports are favorite motifs for photographer and conceptual artist Ralf Peters (*1960 in Lüneburg). At first glance, his images appear to be familiar, but then disturbing details become evident. Logos and lettering have been removed from the Gas Stations-series; the pictures are not faithful reproductions of given situations, but rather deliberately aesthetic renderings of the everyday environment. They decidedly reject any claim to conventional realism.
In contrast, the views from the windows of an airport in the Salta-series are reminiscent of paintings by Piet Mondrian. With these unprocessed photographs, Peters continues playing with the notions of manipulation and documentation, and comes up with astonishing results that present the viewer with insoluble puzzles.

Watch an exhibition docu with Ralf Peters. Directed by Amon Barth. Produced by Jens Apitz.

In 2008, 10 Hasselblad Masters were selected for a competition chosen from different categories. Each Master received a Hasselblad H3DII DSLR camera system to use for four months. During this time, the Masters were challenged to capture a selection of images with their interpretations of PASSION, the striking results are included in the Hasselblad Masters book. Each winning Master is to exhibit a chosen photograph forming a 10 Master show at Contributed from 23rd September until 23rd October, 2009. Hasselblad will host a get together at Contributed on Thursday 1st October from 7PM – 10PM. We look forward very much to seeing you there then.

]]> http://www.contributed.de/2009/09/23/hasselblad-masters-2008/feed/ http://www.contributed.de/2009/09/18/on-line/ http://www.contributed.de/2009/09/18/on-line/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:32:04 +0000 jo http://www.contributed.de/?p=303 21.09 from 7 to 10pm
Presentation of Peter Langers Photo Book “ON LINE”.

Berlin photographer Peter Langer has captured the everyday into personal, ironic imagery with documentary-style accuracy over the last decade. Inspired by the phenomenon of time, he demonstrates how fleeting moments can become lasting impressions when recorded through the eye of the lens. On Line presents a comprehensive visual diary with 366 pictures documenting the year 2008. Winner of the Lead Awards 2009 for Architecture and Still Life Photography, Langer’s work is regularly published in German Zeit magazine and included in renowned publications on fashion and architecture.

Author: Peter Langer
Publisher: Gestalten Berlin

What started in 2001 as a boutique design agency under the guidance of founder Alex Wiederin turned into a creative think tank for high-end international fashion and editorial design clients as well as some of the world’s most established photographers, editors and publishers. Believing that creative expression is limitless, buero new york’s creative team shares one overall approach: to give voice to the unique and inherent personality of a brand or project.

One of those projects’ result is to be seen at CONTRIBUTED during the summer 2009.

Watch a guided video tour with Alex Wiederin. Directed by Ulrich Bentele

The bent tubular steel has been heralded as the symbol of modernity in furniture design ever since the radical innovations designed by Mart Stam and Marcel Breuer in the 1920s. In honour of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus osko+deichmann pay hommage to the classic Cantilever Chair and two other tubular steel pieces by visually and physically challenging tradition and implementing a controversial detail into the canon of the design: The kinked tube.

The Twin Paradox is a thought experiment in the theory of relativity in which a twin who journeys into space in a high-speed rocket returns home to find he has aged less than his identical twin who stayed on Earth.  The paradox is based on the phenomenon of “time dilation” whereby an observer finds that a clock, which is physically identical to his own, is ticking at a slower rate as measured by his own.  This is perceived as time “slowing down” for the other clock, but that is only true in the context of the observer’s frame of reference.

This theory is contemplated in six pieces. The Twin Paradox exhibits motion as relative: that time does slow down, reverse, loop or fast-forward in a subjective context.  The paradox borders science and fiction.

ND-Artists is a Berlin based agency representing some of Germany’s leading talents in the world of photography, styling and set design and took the opportunity to present and celebrate the artists and their work and portfolios during the ADC. The Art Directors Club is a club of innovation serving as a magnet for all creatives from 22nd – 26th April, 2009.

Werkstatt:München has been on the international market for over 10 years and is sold world wide in leading boutiques and luxury department stores. On the occasion of Berlin’s press days, CONTRIBUTED collaborated with Werkstatt:München to exhibit the new collection and present it to a select number of journalists for two days.

Having already built an excellent reputation in Japan, Satoshi moved to Europe in 2006 where his mix of car, landscape, fashion and conceptual photography has been extremely well received. CUSTOMIZED was Satoshi’s first solo exhibition, shown first in London in December 2008 to January 2009, then in CONTRIBUTED from February to March, 2009. The exhibition resulted from a collaboration between Intersection Magazine and CONTRIBUTED, to celebrate the launch of the German edition.

The Bernhard Willhelm Showroom was the first event to be hosted at CONTRIBUTED and took place during the Berlin Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2009/10. Bernhard Willhelm presented his collection as a living installation on 31st January in the Postbahnhof, Berlin, after which selected press and buyers were invited by appointment to visit the showroom to discover the new collection in an intimate and unique environment.

CONTRIBUTED started as a studio for the Arts, serving as a cross-over presentation platform within the fields of fashion, photography and art.