Thomas Rusch (* October 10, 1962 in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German photographer living in Berlin, Hamburg and Paris.
Life and Work
After finishing school, Thomas Rusch moved to Hamburg in 1981 to start his education as photographer. His first publication was a series of portraits at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival published in weekly magazine Stern. This was followed by a long-term cooperation with Stern, in which Thomas Rusch published many reportages, portraits and cover pictures. At the end of the 1990s Thomas Rusch's portraits of well-known celebrities were published in magazines like Zeitmagazin, Der Spiegel, Max and GQ. At the same time, Rusch showed his artistical work, e.g. Paradise Lost, Cirque O, and Die Ecke (The Corner), in price-winning exhibitions around the world.
From the late 1990s on, Thomas Rusch lived in Paris. He worked as a beauty- and fashion photographer and published his work in indie publications like Soon, Tank, and Oyster, as well as in numerous international fashion- and lifestyle magazines. Rusch shot campaigns (e.g. for Ray Ban, Beck's, Seat) and developed his own artistical projects.
Since 2006, Thomas Rusch is commuting between Paris, Hamburg and Berlin. He is still working for editorials and advertising, but at the same time he is focussing on his work as an artist. In his freelanced projects, Thomas Rusch is concerned with the subjects of sexuality, representation of women in western society, and fetishism. He likes to examine their ambivalent qualities between the private and the public, art and commerce - oscilliating between a clear emphasis on naturalness and an exaggeration of superficiality. His last exhibitions were focussing on themes like masks (Behind, 2010, portraits of faces with heavy make-up) and skin (A Fleur de Peau, 2014, studies on the subject of skin)
2014 A Fleur de Peau, Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris2013 Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris2010 Behind, Stageback Gallery, Shanghai2009 Homage to Irving Penn, Galerie Hiltawsky, Hamburg/Berlin2008 Play, Galerie Chappe, Paris2002 Die Asthetik der Luste, Fotomuseum Leipzig2002 Icon, Aplanat Galerie, Hamburg2001 Jolis Momes, Acte 2, Paris2000 Die Asthetik der Luste, Fotomuseum Leipzig1996 Erotik in Deutschland, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg1995-2012 Bildermode – Modebilder. German fashion photography. Curated by F.C. Gundlach, stations in New York, Milan, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Honkong, Singapore, Lisbon, a.o.1995 Die Ecke, Image-Kastannus Oy, Helsinki1994 Zeitgeist Becomes Form, Goethe-Institut, New York1993 Paradise Lost, Kulturzentrum Gasteig, Munich1993 Alexandra S., Deutsche Fototage, Frankfurt1992 Internationaler Salon fur Fotografie + Design, Cologne1992 Die Ecke, Galerie Rahmel – 17 Subway Stations, Cologne1992 Paradise Lost, PPS Galerie F.C. Gundlach, Sheila Metzner + Thomas Rusch, Hamburg1992 Paradise Lost, Museo Ken Damy, Brescia1991 Modewelten, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg1990 Paradise Lost, Museum House of Painters, Moscow1987 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Grauwert Galerie, Hamburg4x Art Directors Club, GermanyArt Directors Club of Europe2008 SPD Award, New York2006 FWA Red Dot Award2004 Canon ProFashional Photo Award1992 Kodak Portrait Award1991, 1987 Kodak European AwardSecond Bert Hartkamp Collection, AmsterdamF.C. Gundlach Collection, HamburgMuseum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, HamburgThe Finnish Museum of Photography, HelsinkiMuseo Ken Damy, Brescia2010 Thomas Rusch. The Artificial Face – mask and masquerade, in: Eyemazing, Issue 3, 2010. ASIN: B00510IC4A2010 Blink Magazine. Contemporary Photography, No. 5, ISBN 978-89-965709-5-02010 Blink Magazine. Contemporary Photography, No. 12006 All Allure, edited by Robert Klanten, Berlin, Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 3-89955-100-12002 Thomas Rusch - Icon, with texts by Hellmut Karasek and Wolfgang Behnken, Hamburg, Aplanat Edition. ISBN 3-922805-77-91997 Surrealities, edited by Andreas Peyerl, Robert Klanten, Berlin, Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 3-931126-03-X1995 Bildermode – Modebilder. Deutsche Modephotographien von 1945 bis 1995, edited Wulf Herzogenrath, with texts by F.C. Gundlach, K. Honnef, E. Kaufold, Berlin, IFA. ASIN: B00B59NXOK1992 Thomas Rusch - Paradise Lost, with text by Shuhei Takahashi, Tokio, Treville. ISBN 4-8457-0724-11988 Sinfonien in Herrenhausern und Scheunen. Das Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, edited by Werner Burkhardt et al., Hamburg, Rasch und Rohring Verlag. ISBN 3-89136-197-1