Thomas Rusch (born October 10, 1962 in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German photographer living in Berlin, Hamburg and Paris.
After finishing school, Thomas Rusch moved to Hamburg in 1981 to start his education as photographer. His first publication was a series of portraits at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival published in weekly magazine Stern. This was followed by a long-term cooperation with Stern, in which Thomas Rusch published many reportages, portraits and cover pictures. At the end of the 1990s Thomas Rusch's portraits of well-known celebrities were published in magazines like Zeitmagazin, Der Spiegel, Max and GQ. At the same time, Rusch showed his artistical work, e.g. Paradise Lost, Cirque O, and Die Ecke (The Corner), in price-winning exhibitions around the world.
From the late 1990s on, Thomas Rusch lived in Paris. He worked as a beauty- and fashion photographer and published his work in indie publications like Soon, Tank, and Oyster, as well as in numerous international fashion- and lifestyle magazines. Rusch shot campaigns (e.g. for Ray Ban, Beck's, Seat) and developed his own artistical projects.
Since 2006, Thomas Rusch is commuting between Paris, Hamburg and Berlin. He is still working for editorials and advertising, but at the same time he is focussing on his work as an artist. In his freelanced projects, Thomas Rusch is concerned with the subjects of sexuality, representation of women in western society, and fetishism. He likes to examine their ambivalent qualities between the private and the public, art and commerce - oscillating between a clear emphasis on naturalness and an exaggeration of superficiality. His last exhibitions were focussing on themes like masks (Behind, 2010, portraits of faces with heavy make-up) and skin (A Fleur de Peau, 2014, studies on the subject of skin)
2014 A Fleur de Peau, Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris
2013 Bettina von Arnim Gallery, Paris
2010 Behind, Stageback Gallery, Shanghai
2009 Homage to Irving Penn, Galerie Hiltawsky, Hamburg/Berlin
2008 Play, Galerie Chappe, Paris
2002 Die Ästhetik der Lüste, Fotomuseum Leipzig
2002 Icon, Aplanat Galerie, Hamburg
2001 Jolis Momes, Acte 2, Paris
2000 Die Ästhetik der Lüste, Fotomuseum Leipzig
1996 Erotik in Deutschland, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
1995-2012 Bildermode – Modebilder. German fashion photography. Curated by F.C. Gundlach, stations in New York, Milan, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Lisbon, a.o.
1995 Die Ecke, Image-Kastannus Oy, Helsinki
1994 Zeitgeist Becomes Form, Goethe-Institut, New York
1993 Paradise Lost, Kulturzentrum Gasteig, Munich