Philipp Scholz Rittermann

Bio

From dramatic panoramic sequences to evocative toy-like images, Philipp Scholz Rittermann's work spans the visual spectrum. He uses urban, industrial, and natural landscapes as canvases to explore recurring themes in his surroundings.

The depiction of the passage of time has been an enduring theme in Rittermann's work, beginning with his nocturnal images of urban landscapes from the early eighties. He continues this theme in his latest panoramic sequences, which offer views so wide they extend beyond what we can physically see with our own eyes. Through his images, we see beyond our senses.

Rittermann sometimes renders the ominous as serene and vice versa. He awakens our sense of discovery by bringing us images of uncelebrated subjects. These often convey a sense of familiarity, inviting communion with the viewer. The meeting with the subject becomes a private, intimate occasion.

Rittermann began photographing in Hannover, Germany, where he co-founded a photography gallery and taught photography. He has lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, and his work is featured in over a hundred public, private, and corporate collections ranging from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris.

Featured nationally and internationally in more than forty solo and over fifty group exhibitions, he frequently gives lectures and workshops. His work has been published in numerous books and magazines. In conjunction with a mid-career retrospective, the Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego published a monograph of his work titled Navigating by Light.