Fred Herzog

Fred Herzog D.F.A. (September 21, 1930 – September 9, 2019) was a German-born Canadian photographer, who devoted his artistic life to walking the streets of Vancouver as well as almost 40 countries with his Leica, and various Nikon, Kodak and Canon, photographing – mostly with colour slide film – his observations of the street life with all its complexities. Herzog did not achieve critical recognition until the 1990s, when his unusual early use of colour in art photography was recognized. He became celebrated internationally for his pioneering street photography, his understanding of the medium combined with, as he put it, "how you see and how you think" created the right moment to take a picture.

Life and career Fred was born Ulrich Herzog in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1930 and spent his childhood in Rottweil, Germany. He lost both of his parents during the war, and in 1946 Herzog went to work as an apprentice in his grandparents' hardware store. Disillusioned by the ravages of war and the situation in Germany, he emigrated to Canada in 1952 and settled in Vancouver in 1953. Herzog's first camera was given to him by an uncle who also had an interest in photography. and was the first major recognition of Herzog's body of work. Herzog exhibited his work both in Canada and internationally, including the exhibitions Fred Herzog: Photographs, C/O Berlin, Germany (2010), Fred Herzog: A Retrospective, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver (2012), Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography, Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, Germany (2015), Photography in Canada, 1960–2000, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2017), and many others. In 2010 Herzog received an Honorary Doctorate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and in 2014 he received the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts. An artist profile on Herzog was featured on the Knowledge Network for the series Snapshot: The Art of Photography II in 2011. In 2014, Herzog's photograph Bogner's Grocery (1960) was released as a limited edition stamp as part of Canada Post's Canadian Photography Series.

Herzog died on September 9, 2019, at age 88.

Publications Fred Herzog: Vancouver Photographs. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre; Vancouver Art Gallery, 2007. . Edited by Grant Arnold and Michael Turner. Fred Herzog: Photographs. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2011. . With essays by Claudia Gochmann, Sarah Milroy, Jeff Wall and Douglas Coupland. Fred Herzog: Photographs. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2011. . Curated by Stephen Waddell and Felix Hoffmann and edited by Hoffmann. Text in English and German. Fred Herzog: Modern Color. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2017. . With essays by David Campany and Hans-Michael Koetzle. Photography in Canada, 1839–1989: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2023. Sarah Bassnett and Sarah Parsons.

Exhibitions Fred Herzog: Vancouver Photographs, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2007. Fred Herzog: Photographs, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2010. Fred Herzog: A Retrospective, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2012. Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Lucia Photography, Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, Germany, 2015. Photography in Canada, 1960–2000, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2017.

Awards 2014: Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, Audain Art Museum, Canada