Obama to Adele, super close-up photos of world’s most famous on show in Shanghai
- German photographer Martin Schoeller, known for his signature close-ups of the world’s most influential figures, is holding his first China solo show
- He says his style, and the way it can be seen as levelling humanity, perhaps reflects his growing up ‘without heroes’
“I always say that it’s easier to photograph people you love or people you hate, because you have an emotion that comes from either,” says New York-based German photographer Martin Schoeller. “It’s the people you really don’t care about that is not as exciting.”
It is not immediately clear which of the first two categories his subjects fall into in “Close”, his first solo exhibition in China featuring photographs of some of the most influential figures in the world.
From former US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Mark Zuckerberg and Oprah, most of the portraits on display at the Shanghai Centre of Photography (SCoP) highlight Schoeller’s signature uber close-up, “hyper-detailed” style of portraiture.
“Chancellor Merkel was a surprising moment as she came completely alone without even a bodyguard,” he says. “She is probably the most powerful woman in modern history.”
Schoeller, 51, says he has photographed Obama three times.
