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Germany Martin Schoeller is a renowned contemporary portrait photographer, celebrated for his distinctive close-up style that captures raw human expression and challenges traditional notions of celebrity.
The collaboration with Martin Schoeller as part of the “Big Heads” exhibition signifies the beginning of a long-term partnership between Porsche and the famous photographer. This partnership highlights the brand's engagement with arts and culture, aligning Porsche with Schoeller's distinctive photographic style.
Pernod Ricard launched its Art Wall program in collaboration with Martin Schoeller, featuring his photography for the brand's 42nd artistic campaign, titled 'Inspiring Action.' Schoeller also created 18 portraits for Pernod Ricard to exhibit at Paris Photo, showcasing a significant partnership integrating art into corporate branding.
Volvo Cars partnered with Martin Schoeller to tell the stories of people saved by safety belts. This collaboration, culminating in an exhibition at Fotografiska New York, aimed to spotlight vehicle collision survivors through Schoeller's photography, reinforcing Volvo's commitment to safety.
Acumen, a nonprofit social venture fund, teamed up with Martin Schoeller to launch the #SeePeople campaign. This initiative sought to change global perceptions of poverty by presenting compelling photographic portraits, emphasizing human dignity and challenging stereotypes.
Martin Schoeller has completed major advertising campaigns, including work for HTC, which highlights his versatility in commercial photography beyond editorial and fine art projects. The campaign leveraged his distinctive style to promote the brand.
Schoeller's portfolio includes significant advertising work for A&E, showcasing his ability to adapt his photographic vision to meet the specific branding and promotional needs of entertainment companies.
Martin Schoeller engaged in advertising campaigns for Lexus, illustrating his collaboration with automotive brands to create impactful visual content that aligns with their luxury and design ethos.
Schoeller has worked on advertising campaigns for Mercedes-Benz, further cementing his presence in the automotive sector through visual storytelling that captures the essence of the brand.
Among his major advertising campaigns, Martin Schoeller has produced work for CNN, demonstrating his capacity to collaborate with leading media and news organizations on their visual content strategies.
Martin Schoeller has undertaken advertising campaigns for Milk, showcasing his broad appeal and ability to work across various industries to create memorable and effective photographic advertisements.
Schoeller photographed Colin Kaepernick for Nike's “Just Do It” Campaign, a project that earned him notable accolades including a Black Pencil at the D&AD Awards and the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes Lion in 2018. This collaboration highlighted his powerful portraiture in high-profile advertising.
Born in Munich, Germany, on March 12, 1968, Martin Schoeller was influenced early in his career by photographers such as August Sander, Bernd Becher, and Hilla Becher. He pursued his education in photography at Lette-Verein in Berlin. In 1993, Schoeller moved to New York, where he began working as an assistant to Annie Leibovitz. During his tenure from 1993 to 1996, he developed his signature “big head” portrait technique, characterized by hyper-detailed close-ups.
After establishing his unique style, Schoeller ventured into freelancing in 1996. His street portraits quickly gained recognition, leading to publications in prominent magazines including Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, and W. A significant turning point in his career came in 1999 when he joined Richard Avedon as a contributing portrait photographer for The New Yorker, a role he has maintained since. His work focuses on treating all subjects, from the highly famous to the unfamous, with the same meticulous scrutiny, creating a democratic platform for viewers to compare and reflect on perceptions of celebrity.
Throughout his career, Schoeller’s work has been exhibited globally in various museums and galleries. His body of work includes several monographs, such as “Close Up: Portraits 1998-2005” (2005), which compiled 75 tight portraits, and “Identical: Portraits of Twins” by teNeues, examining 40 sets of identical twins. In 2012, he photographed the controversial cover of Time magazine on attachment parenting. More recently, in 2020, he published “Survivors: Faces of Life after the Holocaust” with Steidl, featuring 75 portraits of Holocaust survivors, and collaborated with Witness to Innocence on a project photographing death row exonerees, which was also featured in National Geographic. In 2025, Schoeller was honored with the Lucie Award for Achievement in Portraiture, and his work is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
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