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Rafael Neff
About the Work Beach Dabs of colour breathe life into the nearly deserted beach. The light is perfect, the setting impressive. Rafael Neff’s beach photographs feel like the faded memories of distant childhood vacations. The summer guests have long since gone off to other amusements. All that remains is the furniture, old-fashioned… Read more
Intro Bio Exhibitions
Benediktinerstift Admont
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 3,490
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Stift Melk
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Rijksmuseum Library Amsterdam
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Augustiner Chorherrenstift St. Florian
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Nationalbibliothek Wien
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Benediktinerabtei Wiblingen
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Benediktinerabtei Metten
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Benediktinerabtei Ottobeuren
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Nationalbibliothek Prag
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris
Libraries
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
LAO 10
Beach
from $ 1,499 to $ 2,390
NFL88
Beach
$ 6,990
LOU2
Beach
from $ 749 to $ 1,799
SPK 500
Beach
from $ 999 to $ 2,490
AFL 1000
Beach
from $ 999 to $ 2,390
FNG22
Beach
from $ 599 to $ 1,199
FNG15
Beach
from $ 649 to $ 1,199
NFL90
Beach
from $ 999 to $ 2,490
SWI 33
Beach
from $ 1,149 to $ 2,290
Opernhaus Zürich
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Theater in der Josefstadt Wien
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Teatro di San Carlo Napoli
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Markgräfliches Opernhaus Bayreuth
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Komische Oper Berlin
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Semperoper Dresden
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Metropolitan Opera New York City
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Volkstheater Wien
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Bayerische Staatsoper
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Staatstheater Wiesbaden
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
La Scala, Milan, Italy
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Burgtheater Wien
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Staatsoper Wien
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Teatro Bibiena
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Royal Opera House London
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin
Operas
from $ 599 to $ 7,190
Chateau Cheval Blanc, Bordeaux, France
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Sassicaia, Bolgheri, Italy
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Bordeaux, France
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Ovid, Napa Valley, USA
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Bordeaux, France
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Chateau d`Yquem, Bordeaux, France
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Distillerie Berta, Piemont, Italy
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
Marcesi Antinori, Tuscany, Italy
Wine cellar
$ 599
Chateau Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Wine cellar
from $ 599 to $ 2,690
S.T. 550
Minis
$ 119
Background Information about Rafael Neff
Introduction
About the Work
Beach
Dabs of colour breathe life into the nearly deserted beach. The light is perfect, the setting impressive. Rafael Neff’s beach photographs feel like the faded memories of distant childhood vacations. The summer guests have long since gone off to other amusements. All that remains is the furniture, old-fashioned and simultaneously timeless.
Before the first vacationers return to utilize them for the mundane purpose of protection from the sun, the roofed beach chairs create their own game of light and colour. It is fragmented and somewhat abstract, as though they are trying to strike up a dialog with the cloudless blue sky, to which the photographer allots an equal amount of space. Rafael Neff’s photographs are atmospheric in the best way. He takes diverse approaches to the subject, bringing his pictures to life with the contrast between focus and blur, closeness and distance, and shallowness and depth.
Operas
Rafael Neff has been photographing opera houses and theatres all over the world since 2007. Fascinated, we lose ourselves in a wealth of opulent, baroque ornamentation. Warm colours dominate. The rooms feel almost like cathedrals. One immediately gets a sense of the great dramas that unfold beneath these great domes.
Whether it’s La Scala in Milan, The Royal Opera House in London, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, or the Zurich Opera House, the glorious buildings regale us with tales of great divas and minor scandals, of applause and excitement, and of great productions and bold experiments. Neff manages to capture the magic spell the stages cast over the actors and audiences. In his photographs, architectural aesthetics from bygone eras meet our expectations and demands in the here and now.
Libraries
Regardless of whether we are religious or not, rooms that feel so sacred are a joy to behold for every free spirit and aesthete, because they go beyond the individual. These are places where many centuries of the spiritual world have been collected, much more than a single person can gather. Rafael Neff depicts the “temples” of world literature.
The contrast between the libraries could not be greater. The hall in the Benedictine Abbey Admont presents itself with baroque pomp, whereas a more sober atmosphere rules over the Parisian Sainte-Geneviève Library. Neff shows us new perspectives, capturing the aesthetics of different centuries and delivering breathtaking insights. The depth of field makes them feel detailed and clear, but never “merely” documentary in nature.
Wine Cellar
Rafael Neff lets our gaze wander through the world’s most famous wine cellars. His photographic pursuit of all things exquisite is honoured in these warm aging cellars from renowned vineyards with long traditions. Barrels of fine wines tell of full harvests, precise pressing, and prudent storage. Neff manages to capture the excitement that builds up here over a span of decades.
Whether or not a Chateau Margaux Premier Grand Cru Classe lives up to its potential can only be known after it has been aged for more than a decade. With Neff’s pictures, you do not have to be an expert sommelier to recognise the care and attention that a winery like Lafite-Rothschild grants its vines. The soothing symmetry and reserved light are not all that’s pleasant to look at; the deeper you gaze into the depths, the more overpowering the vaults and the more inexhaustible the wine reserves appear.
About the Artist
Rafael Neff’s unique take on settings and architecture has been turning heads since 2001. His Strandkörbe series has become a constant in his otherwise very diverse body of work. He has won several awards, including the “red dot design award” and the Kodak Photo Award, and has even been nominated for the Design Award of the German Republic.
The son of a pastor, Rafael Neff was born in Freienseen, Germany in 1969. He and his seven siblings grew up in the nation’s south. He studied photography in Mainz, Prague, and New York.
Rafael Neff has been commissioned to and completed successful, award-winning photo series and productions worldwide since 2002. These include works for BBS AG, Audi AG, VW, Automechanika, Sherwin-Williams, dm Markt, the Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co KG, the Messe Frankfurt, IHK Frankfurt, the Heidelberger Druchmaschinen AG, the FAZ, the New York Times, and many more.
Technique
What sets Rafael Neff’s work apart is his precise vision and technical ability. In his photographs, he enters the depths and reveals a new, detailed perspective to the viewer. By doing this, he brings subtleties to light that might have otherwise escaped us. Beach chairs are made to seem like sculptures, libraries like cathedrals, and wine cellars like holy halls.
Neff recognizes the beauty of objects and captures that through his lens. In his work, most of which contains no people, a dense atmosphere prevails. In large formats, the photographer’s precision and the images’ abundant details become visible.
Beach
Dabs of colour breathe life into the nearly deserted beach. The light is perfect, the setting impressive. Rafael Neff’s beach photographs feel like the faded memories of distant childhood vacations. The summer guests have long since gone off to other amusements. All that remains is the furniture, old-fashioned and simultaneously timeless.
Before the first vacationers return to utilize them for the mundane purpose of protection from the sun, the roofed beach chairs create their own game of light and colour. It is fragmented and somewhat abstract, as though they are trying to strike up a dialog with the cloudless blue sky, to which the photographer allots an equal amount of space. Rafael Neff’s photographs are atmospheric in the best way. He takes diverse approaches to the subject, bringing his pictures to life with the contrast between focus and blur, closeness and distance, and shallowness and depth.
Operas
Rafael Neff has been photographing opera houses and theatres all over the world since 2007. Fascinated, we lose ourselves in a wealth of opulent, baroque ornamentation. Warm colours dominate. The rooms feel almost like cathedrals. One immediately gets a sense of the great dramas that unfold beneath these great domes.
Whether it’s La Scala in Milan, The Royal Opera House in London, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, or the Zurich Opera House, the glorious buildings regale us with tales of great divas and minor scandals, of applause and excitement, and of great productions and bold experiments. Neff manages to capture the magic spell the stages cast over the actors and audiences. In his photographs, architectural aesthetics from bygone eras meet our expectations and demands in the here and now.
Libraries
Regardless of whether we are religious or not, rooms that feel so sacred are a joy to behold for every free spirit and aesthete, because they go beyond the individual. These are places where many centuries of the spiritual world have been collected, much more than a single person can gather. Rafael Neff depicts the “temples” of world literature.
The contrast between the libraries could not be greater. The hall in the Benedictine Abbey Admont presents itself with baroque pomp, whereas a more sober atmosphere rules over the Parisian Sainte-Geneviève Library. Neff shows us new perspectives, capturing the aesthetics of different centuries and delivering breathtaking insights. The depth of field makes them feel detailed and clear, but never “merely” documentary in nature.
Wine Cellar
Rafael Neff lets our gaze wander through the world’s most famous wine cellars. His photographic pursuit of all things exquisite is honoured in these warm aging cellars from renowned vineyards with long traditions. Barrels of fine wines tell of full harvests, precise pressing, and prudent storage. Neff manages to capture the excitement that builds up here over a span of decades.
Whether or not a Chateau Margaux Premier Grand Cru Classe lives up to its potential can only be known after it has been aged for more than a decade. With Neff’s pictures, you do not have to be an expert sommelier to recognise the care and attention that a winery like Lafite-Rothschild grants its vines. The soothing symmetry and reserved light are not all that’s pleasant to look at; the deeper you gaze into the depths, the more overpowering the vaults and the more inexhaustible the wine reserves appear.
About the Artist
Rafael Neff’s unique take on settings and architecture has been turning heads since 2001. His Strandkörbe series has become a constant in his otherwise very diverse body of work. He has won several awards, including the “red dot design award” and the Kodak Photo Award, and has even been nominated for the Design Award of the German Republic.
The son of a pastor, Rafael Neff was born in Freienseen, Germany in 1969. He and his seven siblings grew up in the nation’s south. He studied photography in Mainz, Prague, and New York.
Rafael Neff has been commissioned to and completed successful, award-winning photo series and productions worldwide since 2002. These include works for BBS AG, Audi AG, VW, Automechanika, Sherwin-Williams, dm Markt, the Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co KG, the Messe Frankfurt, IHK Frankfurt, the Heidelberger Druchmaschinen AG, the FAZ, the New York Times, and many more.
Technique
What sets Rafael Neff’s work apart is his precise vision and technical ability. In his photographs, he enters the depths and reveals a new, detailed perspective to the viewer. By doing this, he brings subtleties to light that might have otherwise escaped us. Beach chairs are made to seem like sculptures, libraries like cathedrals, and wine cellars like holy halls.
Neff recognizes the beauty of objects and captures that through his lens. In his work, most of which contains no people, a dense atmosphere prevails. In large formats, the photographer’s precision and the images’ abundant details become visible.
Bio
| 1969 | Born in Freienseen |
| 1995-1996 | Worked in an advertising agency |
| First photographic works | |
| Received a state-funded photography stipend | |
| 1996 -2001 | Entered the Fachhochschule Mainz, studying Communication Design with a focus on Photography |
| Academic exchange in Prague and New York | |
| Became a protege of Kevin Clarke - New York City | |
| 2001 | Received diploma in Photography at the FH Mainz |
| Premiered “emotionalen Garten” | |
| Began his “Strandkörbe” project | |
| 2002 | Brought his “Strandkorb” project to New York |
| 2003 | Brought his “Strandkorb” project along the entire coastline of the North Sea |
| 2004 | Founded Neff Fotodesign |
| Brought his “Strandkorb” project along the entire coastline of the Baltic Sea | |
| 2005 | Brought “Strandkorb” project along the Polish coast all the way to the Curonian Spit |
| Completed book production at Neff Fotodesign | |
| 2006 | Signed a photography contract with John Deere |
| Completed an artistic work for the Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH | |
| Brought “Strandkorb”project to the Italian coastline and islands of Denmark | |
| 2007 | Began lectureship for photography at the School of Design at the Hochschule in Pforzheim |
| 2008 | Founded a new studio with showrooms in Oberursel |
| Began exhibition of the largest collection of libraries and theatres worldwide - ongoing | |
| 2009 | Began art series about the most valuable books in the world |
| Partook in exhibitions in New York, Paris, Milan, and Berlin | |
| 2010 | Began art series on complex clockworks |
| Partook in exhibitions in New York, Paris, Munich, Berlin, and Düsseldorf | |
| 2011 | Began art series "the most important Wine cellars in the world" |
| With productions in California, France, Switzerland, Itlay, and Germany | |
| 2012 | Started largest portrait series about ballet director Uwe Scholz |
| Continued the Opera series with 13 new Operas | |
| Began new Beach House series | |
| 2013 | Solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, China, Salzburg, and Austria |
| Solo exhibition in Salzburg, Austria | |
| Gruppenausstellung in Heidelberg, Deutschland | |
| Solo Exhibition and remodelling of the Villa Merton (Union International Club) in Frankfurt, Germany | |
2017 | World tour to photograph the world’s best workshops for the Hella GmbH & Co KGaA campaign |
| 2018 | Continuation of “Opera” project at new sites in St. Petersburg, Sydney, and Paris |
| He lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany | |
Awards
| 2019 | Gregor Kalender Award |
| 2013 | DesignPlus Award |
| 2012 | Bronze International Kalender Award |
| 2010 | Gold International Kalender Award |
| 2008 | Red Dot Design Award |
| Kodak Photo Award | |
| "Gregor" Honorary Award from the Jury | |
Gold International Kalender Award | |
| 2007 | Gold International Kalender Award |
| 2005 | Design Award of the state Rheinland-Pfalz |
Collections
DZ-Bank, Frankfurt, Germany
Berenberg Bank, Berenberg, Germany
Sparkassenverband Rheinlandpfalz, Germany
LBBW, Stuttgart, Germany
Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Germany
Berenberg Bank, Berenberg, Germany
Sparkassenverband Rheinlandpfalz, Germany
LBBW, Stuttgart, Germany
Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Germany
Exhibitions
| 2013 | LUMAS |
| 1995-1996 | work for an advertising agency |
| first photography work | |
| publically supported photography grant | |
| 1996 -2001 | major in photography |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2013 | LUMAS, Salzburg, Austria |
| Villa Merton (Union international Club), Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2012 | LUMAS, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| LUMAS, Hamburg, Germany | |
| LUMAS, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2011 | LUMAS, Vienna, Austria |
Group Exhibitions
| 2013 | LUMAS, Heidelberg |
| 2010 | Viennafair |
| 2009 | Art Moskau |
| 2008 | AAF, New York Maison et Objets, Paris IMM Cologne Interior Lifestyle, Tokio Paris Photo, Paris ICFF, New York |
| 2007 | Kunst Zürich TIAF, Toronto Tendence Lifestyle, Frankfurt AAF, New York ICFF, New York Art Moscow Art Melbourne Maison & Objets, Paris IMM Cologne art cologne |
| 2006 | Art Fair Köln Kunst Zürich Blickfang, Wien |
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