Achim Lippoth

Achim Lippoth (born 1968 in Ilshofen, West Germany) is a German photographer and film director. He is considered the most prominent photographer of children,

Allegations of child sexual abuse In May 2022, Die Zeit reported that Cologne prosecutors charged Lippoth with twelve cases of severe sexual abuse of six children, and with the possession of child pornography. He will stand trial beginning on 31 May 2022, after nine months of pre-trial detention.

The cases of alleged abuse reportedly date from 1999 to 2021. Lippoth focuses on the complexities and contradictions of modern childhood. By using child models to stage scenes from everyday life, he casts normal activities with a complex sub-text, questioning the viewer's innocence and complicity.

Edelman's Gallery described Lippoth's work as “drawing heavily from art and photographic history, [he] creates images which have a haunting beauty that is both humorous and poignant, as children take center stage within his elaborate sets. The resulting imagets are arresting, using seductive colors to dramatize events, memories and emotions from our collective past”.

Lippoth's work has been published in Blackbook, New York Times Magazine, Details, Stern, Vogue Italia and Vogue Nippon. He shot, among many other works, a series of images for a campaign against child sexual abuse by the NGO Innocence in Danger.