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b. 1967, Stuttgart
Elger Esser was born in Stuttgart in 1967 and was raised in Rome. In 1986, he moved to D�sseldorf, where he worked as a commercial photographer until 1991. He then attended the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, studying with Bernd and Hilla Becher, until 1997. A trip to Lyon in 1996 marked a turning point in his practice, yielding an aesthetic based on the experience of travel in what Esser calls "archaic locales in the middle of nowhere" and on postcards, which had fascinated the artist since childhood. Esser subsequently made a series of excursions around Western Europe in search of subjects in the natural and built environments, such as the tranquil river in Marne (1997) and the dense architecture of Naples in Matera I (1998). Both of these photographs are part of the artist's Vedutas and Landscapes series, along with studies of the sea such as his Ameland images (2000).
Esser has had solo exhibitions at the Kunstverein in Hagen, Germany (1997), Galleria d'Arte Moderna Bologna (2001), and Fondation Herzog in Basel (2004), among other venues. Group exhibitions in which his work has appeared include the Biennale della Fotografia at Fondazione Italiana per la Fotografia in Turin (1999), Hier und jetzt at Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf (2002), and Affinities . . . Now and Then at the Kansas City Art Institute (2003). He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
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