Gerd Ludwig © Guido Karp

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

GERD LUDWIG

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

Winds of Change

Winds of Change is a retrospective of renowned National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig, spanning his photographic career from its beginnings – his early studies at the Folkwang School in Essen (now the University of the Arts) – through personal and professional turning points such as co-founding VISUM, one of Germany’s leading photographer cooperatives, to his move to the USA and his long career as a National Geographic photographer.

At the heart of his career is his decades-long commitment to photographically documenting the upheavals in Eastern Europe – in particular his profound examination of the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Over a period of more than 30 years, he has documented the aftermath of the disaster, venturing deeper into the decaying reactor than any other Western photographer.

This documentary work is complemented by his artistic series Sleeping Cars – an introspective work that captures the quiet poetry of stationary vehicles in the night-time streets of Los Angeles.

Gerd Ludwig studied photography at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and began his career with assignments for renowned magazines such as Geo, Stern, Time and LIFE. In the 1980s, he moved to New York and was part of the core team at the legendary American magazine National Geographic for almost three decades, where he became known primarily for his reports on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. His work has earned him numerous awards, including a Lucie Award, the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize from the DGPh and the Missouri Honor Medal. Gerd Ludwig lives in Los Angeles.