Michel Comte

Landesinnung Wien der Berufsfotografie, Leica Gallery Vienna and Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo present:

Michel Comte

Artist Talk at the Leica Gallery Vienna, Seilergasse 14, 1010 Vienna.
Free entry
Registration required by e-mail to: festival@lagacilly-baden.photo

Michel Comte is a Swiss photographer and artist. He is the grandson of Swiss aviation pioneer Alfred Comte. After training as a restorer, Comte first worked at the Bruno Bischofberger art gallery in Zurich and then made a name for himself as a photographer working with Zurich fashion designer Hannes B. One of his most famous pictures is a black-and-white photograph of former model Carla Bruni. The original of this picture fetched a price of $91,000 at a Christie’s auction on April 10, 2008.

He has also photographed many celebrities such as Sophia Loren, George Clooney, and Miles Davis. Comte moved to Paris as a restorer and worked for Emanuel Ungaro. This was followed by work for Karl Lagerfeld, who had seen the Ungaro campaign in Vogue, then for Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé, Nike, Versace, Gianfranco Ferré, Chanel, and Lancôme, and a little later for BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Siemens.

Michel Comte has realized photography projects for museums and galleries, but also works as a reporter for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Comte focuses in particular on the topics of climate change and glacier melt. He has had major solo exhibitions at the Maxxi Museum in Rome, the Triennale in Milan (2017), the Urs Meile Gallery in Beijing, and the Dirmiart Gallery in Istanbul. He is represented internationally by the Urs Meile Gallery. Comte lives with his wife Ayako Yoshida in Zurich.
He has two children from his first marriage.