Martin Schoeller: Portraits That Reveal Our Shared Humanity

Born on 12 March 1968 in Munich, Germany, Martin Schoeller is a renowned portrait photographer known for his hyper-detailed close-up style. He studied at Lette-Verein in Berlin before moving to New York in 1993, where he assisted Annie Leibovitz and developed his signature “big head” technique. Since 1999, he has been a staff photographer at The New Yorker, with his work also appearing in National Geographic and Vogue. His portraits feature crisp whites and soft flesh tones, capturing every pore and crease with striking clarity.

Primary Genres: Portrait Photography
Primary Photography Style: Straight Photography: hyper-detailed, close-up, focusing on authentic facial details. Minimalism: uniform lighting and framing for an equal, authentic portrayal
Key Message: Schoeller’s work promotes equality and connection, using a consistent style to highlight subjects’ unique features and shared humanity with stark clarity.

Schoeller photographs a wide range of subjects, including celebrities like Barack Obama, indigenous tribes like the Pirahã, athletes, artists, and homeless individuals. His aesthetic relies on tight close-ups that fill the frame, often centring the eyes to forge an intimate connection with viewers.

He employs large-format cameras, such as the 8×10 Deardorff, or a digital Canon 5D with a 135mm lens, always tripod-mounted for precision. In the studio, he uses dual softboxes for even, shadow-free lighting, deliberately avoiding natural light to ensure uniformity. His editing in Lightroom is minimal, focusing on sharpening details and adjusting contrast to maintain a clean, unretouched look. His large prints, sometimes 40×50 inches, appear in galleries like the NRW Forum and in books like Identical (2012) and Survivors – Faces of Life after the Holocaust (2020), encouraging viewers to engage with the human essence.

For intermediate photographers, Schoeller’s approach offers valuable lessons in consistency. His uniform setup—identical lighting, angles, and cropping—creates a democratic platform, much like the zone system’s tonal control, enabling fair comparison across subjects. He blends large-format film and digital tools, showing versatility while keeping a minimalistic style that prioritises authenticity over glamour. Projects like Identical, which explores twins, inspire photographers to pursue series work around themes like identity. His precision with lighting and composition highlights how technical discipline can uncover raw emotion.

Schoeller’s method is intentional, capturing subjects in unguarded moments to reveal their true selves. Drawing from August Sander and Bernd and Hilla Becher, his consistent technique equalises everyone—presidents and street vendors alike—challenging societal hierarchies. His impact shines through exhibitions like “Close” at Fotografiska and placements in the National Portrait Gallery. Whether portraying Holocaust survivors or athletes, his portraits invite reflection on our shared humanity, turning each image into a study of connection.

Accolades:
- Black Pencil, D&AD Awards (2019) for Colin Kaepernick, Nike Campaign
- Multiple American Photography Photo Annual inclusions (1998–2020)
- Gold Medal, Society of Publication Designers for “The Hadza” (2010)
- Best Portrait Award, American Photo Images of the Year (2008)

Trivia:
- Photographed twins for his Identical series, exploring similarity and difference
- Created Survivors (2020), portraying 75 Holocaust survivors
- Uses identical lighting and setup for all close-up portraits
- Captured diverse subjects, from world leaders to indigenous tribes

Lessons from this Photographer:

Martin Schoeller’s consistent style shows photographers how uniform techniques can strengthen a body of work. His equal treatment of subjects—celebrities to the homeless—demonstrates photography’s power to challenge hierarchies, encouraging a focus on shared humanity. Intermediate photographers can adopt his close-up method to reveal intimate details, using precise lighting and minimal editing. His series work, like Identical, inspires exploration of cultural themes, pushing photographers to spark dialogue through their craft.