Peter Dressler


Peter Dressler was an Austrian photographer and academic teacher.

Life and work

Peter Dressler was born in Brașov, Romania on 17 September 1942. He created his first photographic works in the 1960s. After studying painting from 1966 to 1971 at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Gustav Hessing, he graduated with a diploma. Afterwards, he stayed at the academy as a teacher from 1972 to 2008, initially as a lecturer under Hessing, and from 2001 on as an assistant professor under Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Hubert Schmalix and Amelie von Wulffen. Both as a teacher and as "foremost protagonist of pioneering generation of auteur photographers in Austria" he had a significant influence on Austrian Photography from the 1970s onwards.
Dressler used photography to create staged "photo stories", his aim was "to bring to life the static picture". Often he used spaces of human interaction for locations: public spaces, semi-public like shops and hotel rooms and private spaces. These locations he often found by chance.
He staged temporary interventions for his photographs and often performed himself – forever alone - in front of the camera or he used props for his protagonists – like the "Burschi" dog sculpture or a tin toy figure of a gymnast.
In early works, in the 1970s he explored the spaces of Vienna, for example in his artist's book "Zwischenspiel" or his collaborations with the painter Franz Zadrazil: the book "Das Wiental" in Vienna. Works by Dressler are part of the collections of Albertina, Museum der Moderne Salzburg and the collection of the Austrian state, the artistic estate is located at Fotohof archive. KunstHausWien‚ presented the first posthumous retrospective of Peter Dressler's work in 2016.

Solo exhibitions (selection)

Books

  • 2016: Vienna Gold. FOTOHOF>EDITION. includes texts by Christine Frisinghelli, Rainer Iglar, Bettina Leidl, Michael Mauracher. German /English. 30 × 24 cm, 186 Seiten appr. 170 plates. edition: 1000, ISBN 978-3-902993-41-0.
  • 2004: Eher seltene Rezepte, Rarités Culinaires, Rather Rare Recipes. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 8 pages. 16 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-36-8.
  • 2002: Business Class. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 20 pages. 29 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-27-6.
  • 2002: Greifbare Schönheit / Tangible Beauty / Beauté Tangible. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 24 pages. 13 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-25-2.
  • 2002: Tie Break. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 22 pages. 14 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-26-9.
  • 2002: Bleibende Werte / Lasting Values / Valeurs Sures. FOTOHOF>EDITION. 24 × 16 cm. 20 pages. 12 color plates, laminated cardboard, edition: 400, ISBN 978-3-901756-24-5.
  • 1989: Zwischenspiel. Karolinger Verlag. Includes an introduction by Otto Breicha. 98 pages. 90 plates, ISBN 978-3-85418-039-5.

Awards