Frederic Auerbach is one of the most influential fashion and celebrity photographers in the world. The photos of the Los Angeles-based Swiss photographer can be seen in international magazines or advertising campaigns for brands such as Boss, Ugg, Dior, Porsche, to name a few.  It is only now that he has been persuaded by Düsseldorf gallery owner Carsten Sander (who is also an art photographer himself) to have his first exhibition. 

Frederic Auerbach is also fascinated by technology and recently entered into a cooperation with the NFT platform Accursed Share. Here, his works have just been auctioned in the limited edition of "Captured Moment: The Master's Process" and "The Process Series" (more on the project below).

Frederic Auerbach's trademark is intimate, simple photographs of celebrities. It seems impossible to achieve such a photographic moment in a crowd of 40 people consisting of publicists, managers and agents. Alethea Magazine met the photographer for an exclusive interview on the occasion of his exhibition at the Carsten Sander Gallery. The celebrity photographer himself is just as honest, open and likeable as his pictures.

June 14, 2022

Interview Directory 

ART

Name: Frederic Auerbach

Residence: Born in Switzerland, he lived in Paris before settling in Los Angeles

His works: Photographs the world's most famous people and brands. For sure you know one of his works.

Future: An art exhibition will be held in Düsseldorf before the end of the year.

As a photographer you have achieved everything. Are you curious about the art world and what would you like to achieve here?

I don't consider myself an artist, but an artistically inclined creative. I do celebrity and fashion photography as well as editorials for magazines. I have a certain freedom within the brief and the guidelines. What I want to express is that my photography is worth seeing and looks beautiful. An artist friend of mine, Casha Kellermann - I am enthusiastic about her  art (casha.de) - introduced me to gallery owner Carsten Sander last autumn, otherwise I would not have gone this way. Carsten Sander asked me to show my photographs to the art world by all means. Since November, my first own exhibition has been running in Düsseldorf.

Do you like the term celebrity photographer?

Probably in our world this category exists for reasons of simplification; it is used in the world of advertising, by actors' agents, magazines, or clients - but it has no great importance. My point is that the images are not only glamorous and push the celebrity world to the top, but that they underline the intimate view of people.

Zendaya ©Frederic Auerbach

Natalie Portman ©Frederic Auerbach

How do you achieve that the celebrities can relax during the shoot? How does the shoot work in detail?

You have to know that celebrities don't like to be photographed. They don't like it at all and their teams, who are always present at the shoots, know that. I require a fitting before the hair and make-up. During the hair and make-up, which takes about 2 hours, I walk around the house or hotel room and plan. I am used to feeling a place, seeing it and implementing my planning immediately. While the celebrities are still doing their hair and makeup, I explain what my plans are.

I create a working atmosphere, there is no loud music, but I lead like a director to an intimate moment. The first test shot is very important so that the celebrity finds confidence in my work. When a celebrity like Natalie Portman comes out of her dressing room, everything has to be ready. At the shoot, her manager, agent, publicist and publicist's assistant will be there and they only care about one thing - making the star feel comfortable. From my experience, I know that Natalie Portman feels comfortable when it's quick and super beautiful. There is also a big difference from the US to Europe. In Europe, people sit down and have coffee before shoots. In the US, the celebrities walk into the room and it starts right away.

In the very famous portrait you did of Zendaya, she wears a Louis Vuitton feather headdress in front of a dilapidated wall. Can you tell us about this?

This shoot took place in the basement of a run-down house. After we had already taken a photo, I walked around the house and discovered a door that led into an old dirty cellar. There was a wall with strange red hearts on it. I knew I had to show Zendaya's publicist this wall. For the team, there was no question of the star going down into that dirty basement. But I managed to show Zendaya the photo of the basement wall and convince her that her feathered outfit would look perfect in front of that wall and that's how this photo was taken (the photo is also part of the "Hollywood Eclectic" exhibition).s

As a photographer, when do you know you have the right photo?

I know because then I will have the right feeling. It's a fantastic feeling and it's the same feeling I had 20 years ago when I took my first celebrity picture. I also experience the opposite when I realise I'm not where I wanted to be. It is very difficult with celebrities to bring them into my world of intimate photography. Celebrities are used to having the "uber glamour", fantastic locations, dresses and hair. My "art" is to achieve a simple and beautiful look.

"Be as free as you can for as long as you can and photograph, photograph, photograph."

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers? How important is training?

Photography comes from taking pictures. I would tell them to go out and photograph. The technique comes by itself, the camera doesn't matter. Be as free as you can for as long as you can and photograph, photograph, photograph.  I was at an arts and crafts school for 4 years, but more important than the subject matter was the discussion about photography among the students.

How were your beginnings as a photographer. Did you quickly become known?

My beginnings in Paris were not easy at all. I did many test shoots with models for their setcards. With that, I ran from magazine to magazine for months until I got my first assignment from a relatively unknown magazine. After that I worked with another fashion magazine that was also unknown, but I met an editor from Elle. She was so taken with my work that she brought me to the French Elle. I would call that moment my breakthrough.

What are you currently working on?

Besides commissions, I am busy with my NFT project and am constantly on Talks in Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse. The NFT project is 5 photographs of celebrities that led me to the Master picture (shown in the "Master Series"). The celebrities are Sharon Stone, Zendaya, Natalie Portman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mike Tyson. There are 1600 of them and a picture costs 0.05 Ethereum, about $200. When you buy a photo of my "The Process Series", you get a free photo I took of well-known NFT artist Krista Kim. She became famous with her NFT Mars house and I took photos of her in December 2021. I have colour declined the Krista Kim pictures 4 times, which means the photo will change on the screen every 6 hours. The NFT world fascinates me because it and its audience are completely different. I am still at the beginning and am excited about my next projects.

Mike Tyson ©Frederic Auerbach

Chris Hemsworth

Benedict Cumberbatch

Natalie Portman

©Frederic Auerbach