Oliver Mark (born 1963)[1] is a German photographer, known primarily for his portrait photographs of international celebrities.
Career
In the 1990s, Mark began photographing celebrities. He made portraits of public figures including actors.
His personal interest lies in contemporary artists and their creative world.[2]
He works with both a single-lens reflex camera and an old 680 Polaroid camera. The instant photographs produced by the Polaroid reveal Mark's familiarity and closeness to the subjects he portrays.[3]
In addition to his portraits, Mark regularly engages in independent projects. In the series Natura Morta (2017), he photographed confiscated objects from the evidence room of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. These items, mostly falling under species protection regulations, were originally intended as souvenirs before being seized by customs authorities. Mark presents these objects in a way that emphasizes their allure, only to evoke stronger repulsion from the viewer.[4][5] The series was exhibited in 2017 in two parts at the Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Personal life
Mark is the father of two sons and lives in Berlin.[6]
With Martina Schellhorn: Heimat verpflichtet. Märkische Adlige – eine Bilanz nach 20 Jahren. Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung, Potsdam 2012, ISBN978-3-932502-60-6.[8]
Oliver Marks Blick auf Liechtensteins Staatsfeiertag. Alpenland, Schaan 2013, ISBN978-3-905437-34-8.[9]
Außenseiter und Eingeweihter. [Outsider and Insider] Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2013, ISBN978-3-7757-3756-2.[10]
Aus den Trümmern kriecht das Leben. [From the rubble crawls life] b.frank books, Zürich 2013, ISBN978-3-906217-00-0. (with poems by K. O. Götz)[11]
Oliver – Nutte Künstler Fotograf. Die ganze Wahrheit über Oliver Mark. [Oliver – hooker artist photographer. The whole truth about Oliver Mark] Grauel, Berlin 2014.
2017: Natura Morta, Fotografien von Oliver Mark in Korrespondenz zu Stillleben-Gemälden der Sammlung, The Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna[20]