Karin Elmers

I was born in Hamburg as the child of a Swedish mother and a German export merchant. During my school years, I attended evening courses at Hochschule für bildene Künste in Hamburg. I had a strong desire to study painting. I had a brief stint in the fashion world as well as a one-year stay in Switzerland to improve my French.

Afterward, I began training as an advertising photographer. I completed my apprenticeship, which included spending two years at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, with a scholarship from the city of Hamburg. I assisted fashion photographer Charlotte March and then worked for several years at the international advertising agency Masius D’Arcy-McManus with a separate photo studio, where I worked on international campaigns.

This was followed by self-employment with my own studio in Hamburg. My first campaign was Helmut Kohl's election campaign in 1981. This was followed by the Gauloise campaign with around fifty different motifs. I divided my time between Paris, Miami, and Hamburg. I went on to work on numerous campaigns for international brands such as Nivea, Colgate Palmolive, Effem, Persil, Ritter Sport, Mars Rowentree, Procter & Gamble, Wilkinson, suncare, and cigarettes. I also worked on editorial productions for ...

1year stay in Switzerland stay studying french.
3 years apprenticeship for photography.
1 1/2 years assistant at fashion photographer Charlotte March
8 years creative director at Masius D’Arcy-McManus with own studio

2023
"Blütenreich", Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, group exhibition.
2023
"Second Hand Flowers", Secondella, Hamburg, solo exhibition.
2022
artKarlsruhe, Galerie und Verlag St-Gertrude.
2022
"SZENENWECHSEL - BLICKWECHSEL", Karin Elmers, Horst Janssen, Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, group exhibition.
2022
"SZENENWECHSEL - BLICKWECHSEL", Karin Elmers, Horst Janssen, Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, group exhibition.
2021
"THE WAY WE ARE" (40th anniversary of Emporio Armani), Armani/Silos, Milan, group exhibition.
2021
"IMMERWIRKLICHKEIT", Neue Fotoarbeiten von Karin Elmers, Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, solo exhibition.
2020
"Sommerausstellung", Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, solo exhibtion.
2020
"Sommerausstellung", Galerie und Verlag St. Gertrude, Hamburg, solo exhibtion.
2004
"Licht und Linie - Horst Janssen und die Fotografie", Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe Hamburg.
2004
"Janssen höchstpersönlich" (Ach Liebste flieg mir nicht weg), Horst-Janssen-Museum, Oldenburg.
2004
"Zusammentreffen zu B2B von Jan-Holger Mauss, Hamburg, group exhibition.
2003
"Photopicknik" founded by and with F.C. Gundlach, Hamburg, group exhibition.
2002
"Mythos St. Pauli" (Photographien 1967 – 2002), Museu...