Manfred Baumann
Manfred Baumann (born 1968) is an Austrian photographer. Manfred is best nown for his portraits of celebrities, Landscape, wildlife and Street Photography.
Born in 1968 in Vienna, Baumann grew up in Vienna’s 13th district of Hietzing, where he also attended school. At 16, after graduating from general secondary school, he started an apprenticeship at Julius Meinl, a manufacturer and retailer of coffee, gourmet foods and other grocery products, where he also worked as manager for a year.
In 1995, he moved to Canada to work as a photographer. After two years he returned to Vienna where he continued to work as a freelance photographer. Baumann cites his grandfather, who was also a photographer, as one of his greatest sources of inspiration. His grandfather also encouraged his talents as a photographer by giving him his first camera, a Praktica.
From 2002, Baumann has photographed celebrities. The first international star was James Bond actor, Sir Roger Moore, with whom he became friends afterwards! The list of Hollywood stars who have been in front of his lens is very long. He also had the official last photoshoot with Hollywood legend Tony Curtis. Photographed Kirk Douglas at 103, as well as with Olivia Newton John, among many others.
Since 2011 he has photographed for DAC, which collects donations for Austrian Cancer Aid and since 2012 he has also been an official photographer for PETA, for which he has photographed many more celebrities.
In 2013 he began a partnership with the National Geographic Society, and in 2016 with Leica Camera. Since 2017 he teaches for the Leica Academy worldwide.2017/2018 is Baumann Testimonial for Huawei international along with Robert Lewandowski.
In autumn 2017, his series Mustangs was exhibited in the Natural History Museum Vienna. In 2018/2019 the Grand Hotel Wien exhibited his series Vienna – Grand Hotel Vienna. From February 2019 to April 2019, Baumann exhibited in Australia (in Melbourne and Sydney). In May 2019, Baumann exhibits “Hoch leben die Wälder” in the Black Forest, where he photographed 15 Black Forest originals.Since 2020 he has a permanent exhibition Lipizzaner in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. In 2022 he was the guest star and speaker at the largest Adobe MAX Conference in Los Angeles. 2023 speaker at LSI/Leica Conference in New York.
At the end of 2022 he opened his large solo exhibition at the Leica Gallery in Frankfurt “my world of photography“, which was shown until 2023.From 11/1/2022 – 1/15/2023 his exhibition “LIFE” was shown at the Leica Gallery Prague, showing people over 100 years!
In 2023 Baumann is dedicated to breast cancer, where he presented the impressive exhibition “REBIRTH” at the Publicarts Gallery Vienna & AXICA Congress in Berlin! In 2024, he showcased his impressive portraits of women affected by breast cancer at the “YES”Con in Germany.
In the summer of 2024, his new exhibition, “Reflections of Life,” premiered at the Leica Gallery Boston. In 2025, it will continue at the Leica Gallery Washington, D.C.Also in 2025, Manfred Baumann will open the exhibition “JANE” at the Grand Hotel Vienna, honoring Dr. Jane Goodall and her groundbreaking work.
To celebrate 100 years of Leica, one of his portraits of Jane Goodall will be featured on the Wall of Leica in New York in the summer of 2025.
Baumann is married and he has a son. He lives in Austria & Los Angeles. He is supports different animal welfare organizations. He is Honorary Ambassador of Jane Goodall with his wife Nelly Baumann.