KLAUS SCHNITZER: "Auto Focus"
Internationally renowned automotive photographer and journalist Klaus Schnitzer shares some of his recent images of famous cars, races and collections. On display are 35 color photographs, which focus on the enduring beauty and speed of iconic automobiles.
Klaus Schnitzer turned to photography while working for the student newspaper at SUNY Albany. Images taken early in his career fit into the tradition of photographs as social documentary - straightforward, immediate and sympathetic. He also became known for his black & white pictures of rock stars on stage such as Jim Morrison & Janis Joplin.
After a short, quite successful exploration of lyrical, unassuming street scenes in the manner of Cartier-Bresson, Klaus Schnitzer begins his lifelong love affair with sequential imagery in the early ‘70s, most famous the Ellis Island series. Narratives of decaying structures and objects tell the stories of immigrants who once passed through this ‘Gateway to America’. He finds a strange monumentality and quiet beauty in abandoned rooms, broken furniture, forgotten trinkets and presents them like artifacts. Sequential setups with image-text combination span a wide variety of subjects, from military structures at Sandy Hook, tenement buildings in New York City and historical prisons, and staged holiday dinners.
Most of Klaus Schnitzer’s earlier work is done in black & white, especially memorable when he uses his beloved platinum technique. Color, which only occasionally appears in the first 20 years, gives his more recent work, photographs of ordnance, a new powerful dimension. Images increase in size and stand now alone.
A genuine interest in cars fostered Klaus Schnitzer’s ‘other’ career as an internationally renowned automotive photographer and journalist. Assignments take him all over the world and have resulted in books, feature articles, and more than 110 cover photographs for national and international publications. His name appears on the mastheads of Bimmer and Roundel magazines. In addition, he has photographed/written for Automobile, BMW Magazine, Car (Israel), Excellence, Forza, Sports Car International, and Vintage Motorsport.
Klaus Schnitzer’s exhibition career consists of over 160 regional, national and international shows. As a visiting artist he has lectured and taught at, among others, Haifa University (Israel), Tyler School of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. Consulting work includes MIT’s Car Consortium/Media Lab, Polaroid Corporation and the National Park Service.
He has received 16 grants from MSU, four from the Polaroid Foundation, four from the NJ Council on the Arts, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
Klaus Schnitzer’s work can be found in numerous private collections as well as in the Museum of Modern Art, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Polaroid International Collection, and BMW NA.
Commercial clients include AMOCO, Bell Communications, Bentley Publishers, BMW, Design News, Ilford Inc., KPMG Peat Marwick, Maersk Data AS, Montclair Art Museum, Newark Museum, and Skip Barber Racing School.
Klaus Schnitzer is currently represented by transtock.com, aximedia.com, and the Forrest Scott Gallery.
Printing, show preparation, and print sales by Digital Editions Atelier (digitaleditionsatelier.com)
"For scheduling a portrait of your car/collection, please contact Klaus Schnitzer directly at schnitzerphoto@comcast.net
973 783 4750."