Holger Thoss

Life is learning

I grew up in the German countryside.  In my early twenties, I came to New York for an internship at the Aperture Foundation.  I stayed to study at the International Center for Photography, learning from photographers I admired, like Elliott Erwitt, Erich Hartmann, Gilles Peress and Inge Morath.  For two years, I ran the darkroom for Magnum Photos, New York, handling negatives and prints in the pre-digital age. During that time I learned how to photograph real people in real situation, showing daily life as I saw it.

The urge to go out and create images has motivated me for over 30 years, and I am still a beginner. Seemingly similar situations still surprise me, presenting new possibilities and ways of seeing.  My personal quest is to understand the mystery that is my creative engine.

Things others have said about me:

• "He appears to be very organized." (Appearances can be deceiving)

• "He reads too many self-help books." (There is a need)

• "For his age he's pretty fit”. (Can't run a marathon)

• "Perhaps your being so natural, so relaxed, made all the subjects so natural, so relaxed." (Could have been the other way around)

• "He's the funniest German I've ever met." (This is an oxymoron)

link to an essay by Paul Elie about Holger's Family Panorama work