Joachim Schmid
Encyclopedia
Joachim Schmid studied Visual Communication at Fachhochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd and Berlin University of the Arts
from 1976 to 1981. He is a Berlin based artist who has worked with found photography
since the early 1980s. He began his career as a freelance critic and the publisher of Fotokritik, an iconoclastic and original contribution to West German photography. In the pages of Fotokritik and in his regular articles and lectures for other venues, Schmid argued articulately and at times vehemently against prevailing, predominantly conservative notions of 'art photography' and in favour of a broad, encompassing critique of photography as a form of cultural practice.
After ceasing publication of Fotokritik in 1987, Schmid focused on his own art production, based primarily on found photography and public image sources. Living near one of the largest flea markets in Berlin, he had already amassed a rich, deep, and varied collection of vernacular photography which formed the raw material for many of his works.
Schmid’s use of extended series reflects his concern with photography as an encompassing, culturally dispersed and ubiquitous social and aesthetic discourse that runs throughout the public and private spheres of modern life. Yet the fundamental richness of Schmid’s photographic raw material – along with the sardonic wit he so often displays – derails any attempt to read his work as pure anthropology or social science. His artistic preoccupations reflect a close observation of photographic history and a fascination with photographic images themselves in all their alternately bizarre and conventionalized aspects.
Schmid's work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the collections of many major international institutions. In 2007 Photoworks and Steidl
published a comprehensive monograph Joachim Schmid Photoworks 1982–2007 on the occasion of his first retrospective exhibition at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Exposed in 2008 at Rencontres d'Arles festival, France.
At the end of 2009, Schmid founded the ABC Artists' Books Cooperative
, a group of artists dedicated to self-publishing using print-on-demand technology.
At Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2011, Schmid was one of five curators (along with Joan Fontcuberta
, Martin Parr
, Erik Kessels, and Clément Chéroux) to sign his name to the From Here On manifesto, announcing a new age of photography as represented by 36 artists from around the world.
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
from 1976 to 1981. He is a Berlin based artist who has worked with found photography
Found photography
Found photography is a genre of photography and/or visual art based on the recovery of lost, unclaimed, or discarded photographs...
since the early 1980s. He began his career as a freelance critic and the publisher of Fotokritik, an iconoclastic and original contribution to West German photography. In the pages of Fotokritik and in his regular articles and lectures for other venues, Schmid argued articulately and at times vehemently against prevailing, predominantly conservative notions of 'art photography' and in favour of a broad, encompassing critique of photography as a form of cultural practice.
After ceasing publication of Fotokritik in 1987, Schmid focused on his own art production, based primarily on found photography and public image sources. Living near one of the largest flea markets in Berlin, he had already amassed a rich, deep, and varied collection of vernacular photography which formed the raw material for many of his works.
Schmid’s use of extended series reflects his concern with photography as an encompassing, culturally dispersed and ubiquitous social and aesthetic discourse that runs throughout the public and private spheres of modern life. Yet the fundamental richness of Schmid’s photographic raw material – along with the sardonic wit he so often displays – derails any attempt to read his work as pure anthropology or social science. His artistic preoccupations reflect a close observation of photographic history and a fascination with photographic images themselves in all their alternately bizarre and conventionalized aspects.
Schmid's work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the collections of many major international institutions. In 2007 Photoworks and Steidl
Steidl
Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany.The company was started by Gerhard Steidl...
published a comprehensive monograph Joachim Schmid Photoworks 1982–2007 on the occasion of his first retrospective exhibition at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Exposed in 2008 at Rencontres d'Arles festival, France.
At the end of 2009, Schmid founded the ABC Artists' Books Cooperative
ABC Artists' Books Cooperative
ABC Artists’ Books Cooperative is an international network created by and for artists who make print-on-demand books. Founded in 2009 by German artist Joachim Schmid, the cooperative participates in book fairs and exhibitions predominantly in Europe and North America, and has been at the heart of a...
, a group of artists dedicated to self-publishing using print-on-demand technology.
At Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2011, Schmid was one of five curators (along with Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta is a conceptual artist whose best-known works, such as Fauna and Sputnik, examine the truthfulness of photography. In addition, he is a writer, editor, teacher, and curator....
, Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England...
, Erik Kessels, and Clément Chéroux) to sign his name to the From Here On manifesto, announcing a new age of photography as represented by 36 artists from around the world.
Selected books by and about Schmid
- MacDonald, Gordon and John S. Weber, Joachim Schmid. Photoworks 1982–2007. Brighton, UK: Photoworks, and Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2007. ISBN 978-3-86521-394-5
- Schmid, Joachim, A meeting on holiday. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: NEROC'VGM, 2003. ISBN 90-808285-4-8
- Schmid, Joachim, Bilder von der Straße. Berlin, Germany: Edition Fricke & Schmid, 1994. ISBN 3-927365-28-9
- Schmid, Joachim, Erste allgemeine Altfotosammlung. Berlin, Germany: Edition Fricke & Schmid, 1991. ISBN 3-927365-20-3