Born in Germany, Andreas Gursky developed an early passion for photography, influenced by his father, an advertising photographer. In 1980, he joined the Düsseldorf School of Photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher. Renowned for pioneering the concept of “Photography as Contemporary Art,” the Bechers encouraged their students to explore social themes through static, frontal compositions. They also introduced The New Color Photography (1981), a book that showcased the “New Color” movement led by a new generation of American photographers, which Gursky later referred to as his “bible.” Throughout the 1980s, Gursky’s work primarily centered on German and European subjects, drawing on both the traditions of German photography and the evolving American styles.
　By the 1990s, his focus had expanded to global themes, capturing the essence of globalization—stock exchanges, factories, and stadiums—from sweeping, elevated perspectives. In 1992, Gursky started to use digital technology, which became a hallmark of his process. He often draws inspiration from the media, photographing with a large-format camera. The developed negatives are scanned, meticulously edited on a monitor, and then multiple images are seamlessly combined into a single composition. This method parallels traditional painting, where artists refine their concepts through sketches before completing the final work in the studio.
　The featured work, Em Arena II, Amsterdam (2000), is a photograph of a football field taken from a high vantage point. The white lines and striped grass form a structured composition. The carefully adjusted green color, presumably enhanced digitally, echoes the hues found in the abstract paintings of artists like Barnett Newman and Kenneth Noland, often referenced in discussions of Gursky’s work. Viewing the piece is an immersive experience: up close, the details shift your focus across the players, while from a distance, the field flattens into an abstract plane. This dynamic interplay between “macro” and “micro” perspectives, reminiscent of painting, is a defining feature of Gursky’s photographic art.

* See Yukako Yamada, “Andreas Gursky: The Trajectory of Innovation,” in Exh. cat., Andreas Gursky, Tokyo, The National Art Center / Osaka, The National Museum of Art, 2013, pp. 151-153.