Picture: Christian Bacher
About Florian
Florian W. Mueller is an internationally awarded, exhibited, published and booked photographer. His specialties are architecture, landscape, people, advertising and abstract photography. Since 2013 he is a professional member of the renowned BFF (professional association of freelance photographers and film designers e.V.) alongside big names like F.C. Gundlach, Peter Lindbergh, Sarah Moon or Oliviero Toscani.
In 2016, he joined the honorable AOP (Association of Photographers) in London and became a finalist at the 2016 AOP Awards. In 2017 he was a 6-time finalist and won one of the coveted 12 AOP Awards.
Among many other awards, he received a „Best of Category Award“ and became a finalist at the AOP Awards in London, 1st Place & 2 Honorable Mentions at the Tokyo International Photo Awards, Silver & Bronze at the One Eyeland Photography Awards, Silver & 2 Honorable Mentions at the PX3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris), 2x a 1st, 2nd & 3rd place at the International Color Awards, 3x Gold in the annual BFF Magazine, 3rd place & 24 Honorable Mentions at the International Photography Awards.
His work has been exhibited in galleries in Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Zhouzhou (China), Dusseldorf, Cologne, Athens, Köping (Sweden) and was added to the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado, USA in June 2018.
He led the first „Porsche Photography Masterclass“ in Malaysia in 2017 and teaches photography and fine art worldwide.
“In times of an endless flood of images and greed for perfection I see the necessity to look into an entirely different direction: The images is not enough, it is the abstraction and the individual view of the beholder, together they reach into and below the surface of customary patterns of conception.
In this case abstraction is focused on the reduction to certain facts, forms and objects but not as an experience of pure non-objectivity.
The imagination of the viewer supplements what is absent; what thematically is not dissolved receives, an invisible layer through the observer.”
Some Awards
2018
Category Winner (Architecture & Interior) at the Spotlight Awards 2018 | Gold & Bronze (Advertising) at the Moscow International Foto Awards | Bronze & Honorable Mention at the Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) | Gold & 2x Bronze at the A’Design Award & Competition, Italy | Honorable Mention at the London International Creative Contest, LICC | Silver & 2x Bronze at the Tokyo International Foto Awards | 1st, 2nd place & 5 Honorable Mentions at the 11. International Color Awards | Silver & 2x Finalist at the One Eyeland Photography Awards | Portfolioshow at Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, USA
2017
2. Place at the Chromatic Photography Awards | Best of Category Award & 6 x Finalist at the AOP Awards | 3. Place & 24 Honorable Mentions at the 2017 International Photography Awards | 2 Silver Awards at the A’Design Award & Competition | 5 Honorable Mentions at the 10th annual International Color Awards | Bronze & 2x Finalist at the One Eyeland Photography Awards | 2. Place & 2 Honorable Mentions at the Monochrome Awards | Honorable Mention at the 2017 Moscow Foto Awards | Honorable Mention at the London International Creative Competition
2016
1. Place, Gold & 2 Honorable Mentions at the Tokyo International Foto Awards| 7 Honorable Mentions at the International Photography Awards | Finalist at the Awards of the Association of Photographers | Silver (People’s Choice) & 2 Honorable Mentions at the PX3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) | 3rd Place & 5 Honorable Mentions at the Moscow International Foto Awards | Finalist at the Sony World Photography Awards | 1st Place – “Outstanding Achievement” & 3rd Place at the International Color Awards
2015
1 Honorable Mention & 2 Nominations at the 10th annual Black & White Spider Awards | 3 Honorable Mentions at the International Photography Awards | Gold in the BFF (German Association of Freelance Photographers) magazine | 1st Place at the International Color Awards | 2x Bronze at the annual One Eyeland Awards
2014
2 Honorable Mentions at the International Photography Awards | Honorable Mention at the “Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) | 1 Honorable Mention at the 7th “Photography Masters Cup” | 2 x Gold in the BFF (German Association of Freelance Photographers) magazine
Some Exhibitions
2019
“BFF Progressiv”, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, 15. Feb. – 15. May, Zingst, Germany
2018
“Curator’s Choice”, Prince House Gallery, Mannheim, Germany | “Triebwerk: Reverse Forward”, BFF Group exhibition, Berlin | “Timeless”, Porsche Exhibition, Shanghai Photofairs, Shanghai | “Shifting Elements”, Solo-Show, Prince House Gallery, Mannheim, Germany, May 3 – June 30 | “Cityscape”, Gallery Blankwall, Athens, Greece. March 16 – 29 | “Utopa International Design Exhibition” in Zhuzhou, China. From 26 December 2017 – 20 March 2018 | “Artists for Cap Anamur – Charity Art show”, 16 February – 19 March, Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, Germany | “Artists for Cap Anamur – Charity Art show”, 17 February – 26 March, Altenberger Hof, Cologne, Germany | “Portfolio ShowCase”, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, USA. June 13 – 23
2017
“From Dusk till Dawn”, Triebwerk BFF exhibition, Galerie Albrecht, Berlin, Germany | “SICHT WEISE”, BFF exhibition, Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, Germany | “Maison & Objet Fair” Paris, France | “BFF JUMP #4”, Group Exhibition at the “Duesseldorf Photo-Weekend”, Duesseldorf, Germany
2016
“Agora Gallery”, Group Exhibition, New York, USA | ImageNation, Group Exhibition, Paris, France | 2x PHOTOKINA, with the BFF and the World Photography Organization, Cologne, Germany | Solo Exhibitions Fertighauswelt Cologne, Hannover, Nurnberg, Germany | “Colorida Art Gallery”, Group Exhibition
Lisbon, Portugal | “One World” at the Horizonte Zingst Festival, Group Exhibition, Zingst, Germany | “Photo Popup Fair”, Group Exhibition with BFF, Stilwerk, Düsseldorf, Germany | “Home”, Group Exhibition, Gallery “Made In..” Venice, Italy
2015
„Wild Card“, a BFF group-exhibition, Cubic-Studios, Duesseldorf, Hamburg & Stuttgart, Germany | EVOKATION, Group-Exhibition with jetztzeit Club, Galerie Art of Buna, Cologne, Germany
2014
Konsthall Köping, “Camaverism”, Group-Exhibition, Köping, Sweden | Photoszene Festival, Group-Exhibition with jetztzeit Club, Cologne, Germany | San Nicolao Church, “Shamal”, Group-Exhibition, Bellano (Como Lake), Italy | eFunktion, “Konklusion” with jetztzeit Club, Cologne, Germany | See.Me Exhibition Space, “Year in Review”, New York, USA
2013
Surface Gallery, “Contemporary Photography NOW”, Group-Exhibition, Nottingham, GB |See.Me Exhibition Space, “The Story of the Creative”, New York, USA | eFunktion, “Serendipity” with jetztzeit Club, Cologne, Germany
Some Press Voices
„In der von der Psychoanalyse beeinflussten aktuellen Philosophie spricht man hier davon, dass uns das Bild anblickt; wir sehen das Bild und indem wir sehen, blickt uns das Bild an. Dabei ist der entscheidende Punkt, dass der Blick des Bildes unser blinder Fleck im Bildfeld ist. Das was wir nicht sehen, blickt uns an, macht etwas mit uns und verändert auf diese Weiseunsere anfänglich ungetrübte Seherfahrung.
Und genau diese blinden Flecken und unmöglichen Punkte sind das wesentliche Arbeitsfeld von Florian W. Müller.
… Insgesamt sind seine Arbeiten eine Herausforderung für den Geist und das Unterbewusste. Sie lassen sich irgendwo zwischen digitalen Collagen und der Konzeptkunst verorten und liefern einen erstaunlichen Beitrag zur zeitgenössischen Fotografie.“
Florian Mueller’s work occupies a space between memory and reality, between physical potential and impossibility. His photography reaches for these spaces through the use of vintage cameras, meticulously studied techniques, and digital processing which together produce pieces that seem both familiar and reminiscent of the future. Mueller’s palette in particular leans towards dreamy scenes occupied by a cast of mysterious characters. In his more abstract work, Mueller uses superimposition and a blurring of boundaries to convey the same sense of puzzling mystery left for the viewer to unravel.
A recurring theme in Mueller’s work is the creation of abstract images from landscapes and structures. In this regard, Mueller’s role is between painter and architect, taking imperfections from raw images and forming them into new worlds. The physical transparency of these alterations belies their thematic opacity, which encourages the viewer to pause and piece together Mueller’s process. Mueller obliges in revealing the emotional heart of his work, as he skillfully melds moments of mystery and intrigue with flourishes of contrasting colors and the intersecting lines of his superimposed structures.
Press release Agora Gallery, New York, March 24th 2016
Award-winning photographer Florian Müller captures architectural landscapes in beautifully abstracted ways. As an answer to the endless flood of images and greed for perfection existent today, Müller sees the necessity to change perspectives, taking the view into an entirely different direction. Not the image is enough, but the abstraction of the image that reaches into and below the surface of customary patterns of conception. The photographer focuses on the reduction of certain facts, forms and objects, inviting the viewer to supplement the absent with one’s own imagination.
Magazine “Issue No. 206“, 04.01.2016
Photography aesthetics, are the manifestations of a photographer’s internal practice, focusing on turning observations and understandings from outside, into „framed images“ of different creative inspirations in hearts. Photographer Florian Müller has been shuttling around the world through the lens of observation, his passion for art has never receded. Through his works, we can peek into the phenomenon oft he re-occurring eternal dynamics… … It is because of this perseverance towards photography art, that he has created masterpieces through his lens.
Precious Magazine, Kong Kong, October, 2015
Most of his strongest works are on architecture and landscape though he does cover human subjects as well. His most notable photoseries is Multivision where he layered several images of the New York skyscraper , creating a vibration 3D effect that appears both chaotic and intriguing at the same time. Mueller wants the view of his work to interpret his image and draw their own conclusion on what they are seeing. Wether its the photograph of horizontal lines of the beach skyline or a ferry’s wheel in Corney Island like in his Transitus series, we are drawn to see beyond the beauty of the image he has created from abstract distortion to look for what is familiar or real.
Lau on “ButterBoom.com”, 09.10.2015
Ein Verwirrspiel von ungewöhnlich visionärer Kraft. Fotografiert von Florian Müller und ausgezeichnet mit “Gold”
Magazine “PHOTOGRAPHIE 06|2014”
… In a world that seems obsessed by progress in the form of „faster, higher, further“, Müller tries to find a progress in pausing by creating works an visual spaces wich invite the observer to dwell, to linger and to contemplate beauty in seemingly ordinary things.
Contemporary Photography NOW, exhibition-catalogue, 31.07.2013
“New Era fortifies Porsche’s vision of the future. We highlight the complexities between reality and dreams through the works of commissioned artist, Florian W. Mueller. His series, Multivision, applies his signa- ture abstract style to create multi-layered pieces of superimposed Porsche cars against Shanghai’s cityscape, engaging viewers to unravel the endless possibilities of Porsche.”