Otto Steinert

Otto Steinert was a German photographer.

Life and work

Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, Steinert was a medical doctor by profession and was self-taught in photography. After World War II, he initially worked for the State School for Art and Craft in Saarbrücken.
Otto Steinert's photography is characterized by his opposition to straight photograph using experimental techniques that explore light, motion, and abstraction, often utilising the expressive potential of photographic blur. He frequently used long exposures, camera movement, and unconventional framing to transform ordinary subjects into dynamic, visually striking compositions.
He was the founder of the fotoform photography group.
From 1959, he taught at the Folkwang Hochschule design school in Essen, where he later died.
His archive is part of the photographic collection of the Museum Folkwang, Essen.

Exhibitions

Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 2015/2016
2019/2020: Ludwig Windstosser. Fotografie der Nachkriegsmoderne, Museum für Fotografie, Berlin
Photo Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2023 – ''Flou. Une histoire photographique / Blur. A Photographic History''

Publications

Parisian Forms. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2008. Edited by Ute Eskildsen.. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at Museum Folkwang, Essen.

Collections

Steinert's work is held in the following public collections:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: 2 prints
Museum of Modern Art, New York: 3 prints