Udo Spreitzenbarth: Art & Fashion Photographer
Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan & Elle
Photographer Udo Spreitzenbarth’s work has appeared on magazine covers around the world, including those of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and many more. His art photography has received international acclaim with a successful series of solo exhibitions in New York, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Beijing and Chicago.
During his 25-year career, the German-born New York-based photographer has turned his lens on many of the world’s iconic personalities, among them John Legend, The Jonas Brothers, The Beach Boys, Usain Bolt, the artist Christo, and the late Helmut Newton, whose work has been an inspiration. “I’ve always loved Newton’s work, and I got to shoot portraits of him for a German magazine while he was still alive,” Udo says. “That was amazing; he was one of my biggest idols.”
Meg Ryan
Working with such high-profile subjects has inevitably provided some surprises. Udo was taken aback by Meg Ryan’s laid-back attitude. She’d asked to come by his studio to look at the pictures after a shoot, and instead of arriving with a car and driver and a bevy of handlers, he was stunned when the movie star appeared at his door solo, having walked there over the High Line. “Nobody recognizes me when I wear my big sunglasses,” she explained. “She was such a nice person; lots of charisma, a Zen-feeling around her,” he says.
Salma Hayek
Once, when hired by Elle Mexico to shoot the cover, Udo suggested Salma Hayek as the model. The editors loved the idea – and asked if he could get her to do it. He managed to snag the actress
and booked a studio in L.A. for the shoot. When the shoot started, The House of Gucci star suddenly began speaking in Spanish, which Udo apologetically told her he didn’t understand. She said, “You’re doing the cover for Elle Mexico and you don’t speak Spanish?” Everyone on the set froze. He had to think quickly. “I said to her, ‘Do you speak German?’ She said, ‘No.’ And I said, ‘You want to work with me, a German photographer, and you don’t speak German?’ There was a moment of shocked silence, and then Salma and everyone on set started to laugh. “It kind of broke the ice. And then she saw some of the first shots and she loved them, and it was a great shoot. At the end of the day, she was hugging me and saying how much she loved working with me.”
Tyra 15
Perhaps one of Udo’s most well -known projects was Tyra 15: A Tribute to the Supermodel, in which he photographed Tyra Banks as fifteen other iconic models throughout the ages, including Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, Lauren Hutton, Iman, Twiggy, Karlie Kloss and Carmen Dell’Orefice. The project was especially challenging since they decided not to do any retouching. “If you use Photoshop, you can basically make anyone look like anyone, but if you choose not to use that, then it becomes all about the art of photography, lighting, makeup, styling, and acting on Tyra’s part,” says Udo. “It was amazing how she could transform into these models.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones exclusive
Udo is the exclusive photographer for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ brand, Casa Zeta-Jones, doing all the photos and video direction for ads, commercials and editorials. These include cosmetics, activewear and shoes.
Focus On Fine Art Photography
Recently, Udo has been placing more focus on his art photography, which does include some of his artistic fashion work. He feels that the line between fashion photography and fine art is
increasingly blurring, and looks to his idol, Helmut Newton, as inspiration. “He’s a very important art photographer for our times, but he was at the same time also a fashion photographer, and that never excluded itself,” Udo says. “Things are much more inclusive, and boundaries are more and more broken. People are very accepting and open to what art means or can be.”
With his exhibit this spring at Virgil Catherine Gallery, outside Chicago, he found that patrons were fascinated by his life and work in the celebrity world. “That’s very important to collectors and art lovers, when they see a picture that interests them and you tell them the story, how it happened and why we did it and how it got created. Then they fall in love with the image even more.”
One hallmark of Udo’s work is that there is always a human being in the photo. “I was never as interested in still life or architecture. My forte is people and expressing emotions and feelings through people in my pictures.”
Upcoming Exhibitions: Carlton Fine Arts & Art Karlsruhe Fair
Udo will be showing a selection of his celebrity portraits at Carlton Fine Arts on Madison Avenue this summer until July 16th and then he’ll exhibit at the prestigious Art Karlsruhe fair, in Germany.
