Born in Germany in 1964, Reiner Leist emigrated twice, from Germany to South
Africa (1988-1994) and then from South Africa to the United States. His
works are ongoing - often participatory - projects that examine the relationship
between individual lives and societies, history, landscape and architecture.
He studied Visual Arts and Photography at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste,
Munich, Germany, the University of Cape Town, South Africa and the School
of Visual Arts, New York. Leist approaches his subject matter through extensive
long-term projects. For South Africa: Blue Portraits he interviewed
and portrayed 200 participants from 1989 until 1993.
Leist began his Window project in 1995, one year after moving to New York. Since its initiation, he has photographed the view (almost) daily from his apartment in the city. American Portaits. Which pairs portraits of notable individuals from the present and childhood was begun in 1995 and published in 2001. Since 2001 Leist has worked on projects in Japan and Vietnam. Numerous exhibitions have been held of his work, including the Fotomuseum München, Stiftung Moritzburg, Halle, Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C. and Chuo Library, Musashino, Tokyo. Leist taught at the Visual Arts Program at MIT, Cambridge, Mass. from 2000 until 2003. He now teaches Visual Art at Hunter College, City University of New York.
The Windows installation is currently on exhibition at the Fotomuseum in Berlin in its entirety during the fall of 2006, and Eleven Septembers, Leist's third monograph, has been published by Prestel in conjunction with the Berlin and New York exhibitions.
Leist began his Window project in 1995, one year after moving to New York. Since its initiation, he has photographed the view (almost) daily from his apartment in the city. American Portaits. Which pairs portraits of notable individuals from the present and childhood was begun in 1995 and published in 2001. Since 2001 Leist has worked on projects in Japan and Vietnam. Numerous exhibitions have been held of his work, including the Fotomuseum München, Stiftung Moritzburg, Halle, Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C. and Chuo Library, Musashino, Tokyo. Leist taught at the Visual Arts Program at MIT, Cambridge, Mass. from 2000 until 2003. He now teaches Visual Art at Hunter College, City University of New York.
The Windows installation is currently on exhibition at the Fotomuseum in Berlin in its entirety during the fall of 2006, and Eleven Septembers, Leist's third monograph, has been published by Prestel in conjunction with the Berlin and New York exhibitions.
11 Septembers 1995-2005 [view images]