RAFAEL NEFF
After his visually profound series on baroque libraries, famous opera stages, precision mechanical clocks, and natural history volumes, Rafael Neff now lets our eyes drift across the famous wine cellars of the world. His photographic philosophy of the exquisite comes into its own in the warm maturation cellars of the world’s famous wine estates. The camera captures the ordered impression of these sealed barrels of luxury wine for more than just a fleeting moment. There is good reason why Chateau Margaux Premier Grand Cru Classe does not reach its optimum flavour and finesse until after more than ten years. The wine also takes on body during this time, as a renowned wine critic has explained. You don’t need to be a wine connoisseur to identify the care and attention given to the grapes of Lafite Rothschild in Neff’s photographs. The image is not just pleasing to the eyes on account of the symmetry and gentle light. The more the viewer’s attention is drawn to the depths of the image, the more imposing the vaults and the inexhaustible supply of wine appear. Not just anyone can get into these hallowed halls of vintage maturation, which seem to unfold and gain colour in front of our eyes.
Stephan Reisner
IN THE PARADISE OF THE HUMMINGBIRD
This rare series of colourful hummingbirds is a homage to perfection, to craftsmanship, and to precise observation. Raffael Neff discovered them while taking photos in large libraries and bibliophiles' collections. The original hand coloured copperplates come from a four-volume edition by the French ship's doctor and naturalist René Primevère Lesson, who sailed round the world from 1822 - 1825. They are birds from the Pacific and South America, which were then little known to Europeans.
Rafael Neff recognised the perfect beauty of the images, which were every bit as beautiful as the aerial artistry of the small birds themselves, and took pin sharp photographs of the plates. The hearts of these wonderful birds beat so breathtakingly fast that they can hover in place, fluttering in the air. It's not just ornithologists that find these pictures enchanting, so do connoisseurs and lovers of the printers art - a real rarity.
Stephan Reisner
GORGEOUS OPULENCE
Rafael Neff set out on travels through Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, and returned with photographs of cloisters and opera houses. For four years now, Rafael Neff has been photographing opera houses, theaters, and libraries around the world. Like children we get lost in the opulent scenography of warm colors and telltale statues from times long ago, spellbound by all the magnificence. With wondering and astonished eyes we remain fascinated by the opulent cornucopia of baroque ornament. Whether in the Benedictine abbey in Ottobeuren, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Neustift, the Premonstratensian cloister in Bad Schussenried, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples splendidly rebuilt after a devastating fire, the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Opéra Garnier in Paris, the Bayerisches Staatstheater in Munich, or the Opera House in Zurich: the light-filled opera houses tell us of all of the dramas played out on their stages. We can almost hear the arias from the libretti of the lives sung within these walls. Such spaces are a joy for every aesthetic eye and free spirit, because they go far beyond the individual in that they have existed long before us and will present aesthetic pleasure with their opulence long after our time.
GLACIERS AND BEACHES
The nearly unpopulated beach stage is animated with the choreography of colored swabs, the light is perfectly arranged, the protagonists have their performance. As a matter of fact, there are only beach chairs, but they have their own individuality in the photographs of Rafael Neff. Simultaneously, they contain themselves, taking nearly nothing from their surroundings and appear to be presenting the brightly colored, striped fabric with which they are budding, their shadows playing on the rough surface of the sand. Before the first vacationers come and profanely misuse them as sun protection, they stage for themselves and any other chance passersby, a Capriccio of light and color, fragmented and flirtatiously abstract as if trying to have a dialogue with the cloudless blue of the sky, which the photographer acknowledges with an even expanse. Rafael Neff’s photographs are impressive in the best sense. He draws nearer to his objects in various ways and animates his impressions through the contrast of the focused and unfocused, proximity and distance, surfaces and depths. The pictures seem like bleached out memories of celebrations from a long ago childhood filled with sea noises, and summer guests. The personal is has long ago been removed, leaving only the furnishings, old-fashioned, wonderful and timeless.
Dr. Boris von Brauchitsch
CHRONOGRAPHIC WATCHES
Rafael Neff grants us a rarely seen view inside some of the finest chronographic watches – unveiling incredibledetails. With the ornamental density and the subtle colors, the perfectly formed and worked metals reveal beauty in functionality. The close-ups of modern clockwork, produced in the century-old tradition, are a special kind of testament.
| 1969 | born in Freienseen, Germany |
| 1995-1996 | work for an advertising agency |
| first photography work | |
| publically supported photography grant | |
| 1996 -2001 | major in photography |
| travels to Prag and New York | |
| student of Kevin Clarke - New York | |
| 2001 | Master of Photography, FH Mainz |
| Premiered work for the "Emotional Garden" | |
| Neff begins to work on the "Beach Chairs" | |
| 2002 | Calendar production for Zander's Fine Paper AG |
| Photo production for Salamander AG | |
| "Beach Chairs" project in New York | |
| 2003 | Photo production for Heidelberg’s Zement AG |
| Photo production for Liebherr and for BASF AG | |
| “Beach Chairs” project along the entire North Sea coast | |
| 2004 | Photo production in Cuba for BBS AG |
| Premiered prizewinning book production for Pioneer Electronik Germany | |
| “Beach Chairs” project along the entire Baltic coast | |
| Founded neff fotodesign | |
| 2005 | Winner of the Design Prize from Rheinlandpfalz |
| Premiered prizewinning calendar production for Audi’s “25 Years of Quattro” | |
| Photo production in China for BBS AG | |
| Premiered prizewinning calendar production for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG | |
| “Beach Chairs” project from the Polish coast to Courland Spit | |
| Book production for neff fotodesign | |
| 2006 | Photography contract with John Deere |
| Photo production in Italy for BBS AG | |
| Artistic work for Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH | |
| “Beach Chairs” project on the Italian coast and on Denmark’s islands | |
| lives and works in Frankfurt | |
| 2009 | Nominee, Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (German Design Prize) 2010 |
| 2008 | Winner of the Red Dot Award |
| Winner of the Kodak Photo Award | |
| Winner of the “Gregor” - Jury’s Honorable Mention | |
| Winner of the international calendar competition in Stuttgart (Gold) for ebdruck Haus | |
| 2007 | Winner of the international calendar competition in Stuttgart (Gold) with Franz Schneider Brakel |
| 2005 | Winner of the Design Prize from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
Solo Exhibitions (Selection)
| 2012 | LUMAS, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| LUMAS, Hamburg, Germany | |
| LUMAS, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2011 | LUMAS, Vienna, Austria |
LINKS
www.rafael-neff.de
LUMAS Featuring
You may also like these artists
The LUMAS Satisfaction Guarantee
For all online orders at LUMAS we guarantee a 14-day return policy
