The exhibition presents pieces taken from four series, offering deep insight into Bryan Adams’s impressive body of photographic work. Born in Canada in 1959, the artist has been pursuing a fast-paced and very self-confident career as a photographer, since the nineties, in parallel to his successes as a singer, songwriter and producer. His interest in photography, developed as a hobby while he was still a teenager, became a passion that has brought him international renown. He is the recipient of various awards, and his work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and is included in many collections.

The presentation put together for the Ernst Leitz Museum exhibition offers proof of Adams’s versatility and demonstrates the evolution of his particular photographic signature. For his Exposed series, he staged friends, colleagues, actors, models and celebrities. He always captured them at eye level, from as close as possible without causing embarrassment. Amy Winehouse or Mick Jagger, Pamela Anderson or Mickey Rourke, Kate Moss or even HRH The Queen Elizabeth II: it seems they all felt quite comfortable in front of his camera. Time and again, Adams managed to reveal the person behind the mask. At the same time, his ironic and humorous ideas play masterfully with the clichés of celebrity photography.

By experimenting with coloured plexiglass, some of his portraits gained a particular intensity: the In Colour series also includes pieces being presented in Germany for the first time. Two further empathic series provide evidence that Adams is far more than an outstanding photographer of celebrities. In 2011, for Wounded: The Legacy of War, he portrayed British soldiers, wounded in war, returning from tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite their shocking limitations, the young men and women are shown as self-confident and strong in front of the camera. Adams reveals equal empathy in his Homeless series, where he draws close to people on the edges of society. He met them on the streets of London, where they were selling the homeless magazine, The Big Issue. These intense portraits incite compassion and respect and are a testimony to the photographer’s commitment to those often overlooked, and to his concern for serious issues.

The combination of these series on display underlines Adams’s brilliant ability to communicate through photography – with those portrayed, as well as the viewing public. His compassionate images not only stand out, but also leave a lasting impression

Biography Bryan Adams

The singer, songwriter, producer and artistic photographer was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1959. His work has appeared in publications such as British Vogue, American Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, British GQ, Esquire, Interview and i-D. In 2003, he co-founded the art magazine Zoo. His advertising campaigns include brands such as Hugo Boss, Guess Jeans, Converse, Montblanc, Fred Perry and Escada, as well as car manufacturers Jaguar and Opel. In 2022, he photographed the Pirelli Calendar. Adams has published five photo books: American Women (2004); Exposed (2012); Wounded: The Legacy of War (2013); Untitled (2015); and Homeless (2019).