Klaus Mitteldorf (São Paulo SP 1953)
Photographer.
Klaus Werner Mitteldorf graduated in architecture in 1979 from the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo Brás Cubas, in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, but does not practice the profession. He began in photography in the 1970s as a surf photographer, working for the magazines Brasil Surf and Surfing. In the 1980s, he specialized in fashion and advertising photography. In this field, he worked with the magazines Vogue, Elle and Playboy in Europe and Brazil, and for major Brazilian and European advertising agencies such as DPZ, Almap BBDO, Lew Lara, J. W. Thompson, Lowe Worldwide and McCann Erickson, among others. In 1998, he held the exhibition O Último Grito [The Last Scream] at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and began a more experimental phase of his career, already recognized for the technical refinement of his fashion and advertising photographs. Among the many books he has published are Norami (1989), Klaus Mitteldorf Photographs (1992), O Último Grito (1998), Katharsis (2001) and Introvisão [Introvision] (2006). His work has international repercussion and the photographer has received several awards, notably three Nikon Prizes (1980, 1982 and 1986), the Fundação Conrado Wessel Photography Prize (2002), 3rd place at the Rome International Art Biennial (2008) and the Higashikawa International Photo Festival Overseas Prize, for the exhibitions and books O Último Grito (1998) and Introvisão (2008).
Notes
1 PETIT, Francesc. Introdução. In: MITTELDORF, Klaus. Norami. Switzerland: Rotovision, 1989, p. 9-11.
2 FERNANDES JÚNIOR, Rubens. Ilusão transitória. In: MITTELDORF, Klaus. O último grito. São Paulo: DBA, 1998, p. 9-11.
3 MITTELDORF, Klaus. In: O último grito. São Paulo: Editora Terra Virgem, 1997, p. 122.
4 GONÇALVES FILHO, Antonio. O poder do grito. In: Kátharsis. São Paulo: DBA, 2001, p. 53.
Critiques
"An artist takes many years to discover himself, then as many again to find a personal and original language, then to master it, and it still takes a long time to discover the technique, the material, the means to make his works.
Klaus Mitteldorf chose photography as his means of expression and did so completely: he used not only the modern, technological camera but every possible piece of paraphernalia - airplanes, helicopters, balloons, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and he even takes photos on foot.
His photos show very clearly that he is a globetrotter, one of the famous Marco Polos of photography. He belongs to the generation of photographers who are disciples of the photographic philosophy pioneered by 'Look' and then 'Life', followed today by 'GEO', the German version of 'Geographic Magazin'.
But I think Klaus has two visions that divide him as an artist: one is this athletic side; the other is his German heritage of great graphic tradition.
Klaus is a graphic artist, and I go with that side of him. If he were not a photographer, he would be a graphic artist, painter, sculptor or even designer; he has a perfect vision of European graphic balance, like the masters Kurt Schwitters, Mondrian, Werner Schreib or Hans Friederich, who master space and content with unique talent and balance; in fact, graphic art has always existed, and it was the Germans who discovered it as a great form of artistic expression."
Francesc Petit
MITTELDORF, Klaus. Norami. Switzerland: Rotovision, 1989.
"The Brazilian photographer Klaus Mitteldorf does not use color simply to color the images he photographs. In fact, he transforms it, using third-generation computerized photocopiers that remove the conventionality of tones, to reinforce the visual sensation of colors and give each one maximum saturation and contrast.
The records photocopied onto ordinary paper are manipulated as if they were black-and-white films in an ordinary darkroom. This method is incorporated into the work and research the photographer is successfully carrying out in Germany, where he lives. A fanatical devotee of color, Mitteldorf tells 'Folha' in an interview how he uses the photocopier to emphasize colors and even change them. 'I keep playing until I get the result I want', says Mitteldorf.
For him, color can record misery, poverty and wealth and does not necessarily have a connotation of exaltation. 'My visual conception starts from color. It has vibrations, and everything I interpret in photos I capture through these vibrations, trying to accentuate them', says the photographer."
Ana Maria Guariglia
GUARIGLIA, Ana Maria. Klaus Mitteldorf: o fotógrafo brasileiro fala em entrevista à Folha sobre o uso de fotocopiadoras em seu trabalho. Folha de S. Paulo, São Paulo, 30 out. 1991. Informática, p. 20.
"Klaus Mitteldorf is one of the few Brazilian photographers who enjoy some international unanimity. He has been on the cover of 'Photo', 'Graphis Photo', 'Foto Design', 'Art Directors Index to Photographers' (in 1988/89/90), 'Zoom' and other international magazines. He has also published a beautiful book - 'Norami' - issued by Rotovision (Switzerland). Not to mention national magazines and countless catalogs, among them Bilderlust, a major exhibition on eroticism held in Germany earlier this year by an important photography collector. His work recovers a futurist nostalgia for a simple, organized universe, but it is quite daring in its proposal to produce photography that appeals to an imaginary obsessively seeking to understand and sacralize the beauty of form. Surprise and unease, a mysterious harmony of the elements in the scene, are essential to producing the specificity of his language. Enigmatic, Klaus Mitteldorf's photographs are inexplicable; they were created with the intention of opening a field of possibilities for the most diverse readers. Indeed, they may hate them or love them, but they will certainly not remain indifferent to this visual style, strong and contrasting."
Rubens Fernandes Junior
FERNANDES JUNIOR, Rubens. Klaus Mitteldorf. Gráfica Arte/Internacional, n. 33.
Collections
Banco Itaú Collection - São Paulo SP
Deutsche Fototage Collection - Frankfurt (Germany)
Die Neue Sammlung, Staatliches Museum für Angewandte Kunst Collection, Munich - Germany
Musée Français de la Photographie Collection - Paris (France)
Sammlung Rainer Wick Collection - Frankfurt (Germany)
Sammlung Uwe Scheidt Collection - Germany
Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection - São Paulo SP
Solo Exhibitions
1981 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Fiorucci Gallery
1981 - Salvador BA - Solo, at Fiorucci Gallery
1982 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Itaugaleria
1984 - São Paulo SP - Summertime, at Espaço Otelo
1989 - São Paulo SP - Norami, at Galeria São Paulo
1992 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa da Fotografia Fuji
1993 - Florianópolis SC - Solo, at Centro de Artes, Fundação Prometheus Libertus
1993 - Belém PA - Solo, at Fundação Rômulo Maiorana
1995 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Li Photogallery
1995 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Club Transatlântico
1995 - Ribeirão Preto SP - Solo, at MIS
1995 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at MuBE
1998 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1998 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Paparazzi
1999 - Curitiba PR - Solo, at Museu Metropolitano de Arte de Curitiba
2000 - Porto Alegre RS - Solo, at Galeria dos Arcos, Usina do Gasômetro
2000 - Salvador BA - Solo, at MIS
2001 - São Paulo SP - Katharsis, at Espaço Paul Mitchell
2001 - São Paulo SP - Katharsis, at Estação Clínicas do Metrô
Group Exhibitions
1974 - São Paulo SP - Salão Internacional de Arte Fotográfica de São Paulo [São Paulo International Salon of Photographic Art]
1975 - São Paulo SP - 32º Salão Internacional de Arte Fotográfica de São Paulo [32nd São Paulo International Salon of Photographic Art]
1984 - Tokyo (Japan) - Kodak/Dentsu Photographic Exhibition, at Grand Palais
1985 - São Paulo SP - 1ª Quadrienal de Fotografia [1st Photography Quadrennial], at MAM/SP
1987 - São Paulo SP - Agricultura Vista pelos Grandes Fotógrafos [Agriculture Seen by Great Photographers], at MIS/SP
1987 - São Paulo SP - Três Visões Fotográficas [Three Photographic Visions], at Panamericana
1988 - Cologne (Germany) - Kodakchrome Classics, at Photokina
1991 - Cologne (Germany) - Bilderlust, at Museum Ludwig
1992 - Cologne (Germany) - 2º Plak-Art [2nd Plak-Art], at Gallerie Rahmel
1993 - Curitiba PR - 3ª Semana da Fotografia de Curitiba [3rd Curitiba Photography Week], at Palacete IBM
1993 - Frankfurt am Main (Germany) - Ansichten von Alexandra S., at Schirn Kunsthalle, Deutsche Fototage
1993 - São Paulo SP - 3ª Coleção Pirelli/Masp de Fotografias [3rd Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection], at Masp
1993 - São Paulo SP - Fotografia Brasileira Contemporânea [Brazilian Contemporary Photography], International Photo Meeting, at Sesc Pompeia
1993 - São Paulo SP - Ano 2 [Year 2], with Aguilar, Arnaldo Antunes and Angeli, at Espaço Cultural Ovídio
1995 - Cologne (Germany) - Die Farbe Rot, at Chapel Art Center
1996 - Frankfurt (Germany) - Die Farbe Rot, at Karmeliter Kloster
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Imagem do Som de Caetano Veloso [The Image of the Sound of Caetano Veloso], at Paço Imperial
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Imagem do Som de Chico Buarque [The Image of the Sound of Chico Buarque], at Paço Imperial
Source: Itaú Cultural
