About
Biographical Notes
Born in Bergheim near Cologne, Alfred Steffen studied photography at the Lette School in Berlin before joining the legendary magazine TEMPO in the mid-1980s — a place that helped define an entire generation’s visual identity.
Since then, his photographs have appeared in Vogue, Stern, SZ-Magazin, and Rolling Stone, portraying artists and thinkers such as Prince, Leonard Cohen, Lenny Kravitz, Laurie Anderson, Herta Müller, and Willy Brandt.
Steffen’s work spans portraiture, documentary, and conceptual series that explore how people perform, hide, and reveal themselves — from the euphoric faces of the Love Parade to the quiet intimacy of Berlin nightlife.
Among his best-known projects are Portrait of a Generation (TASCHEN, 1997), a sociological and visual chronicle of 1990s rave culture; Comfort Zone (2001–2003), a nocturnal study of human connection in the unisex bathrooms of Berlin’s club Cookies; and his long-running collaboration with the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, “Sagen Sie jetzt nichts / Don’t Say Anything”, a photographic interview series with over 160 personalities — including the now-iconic portrait of Peer Steinbrück.
“I’m not interested in perfection — I’m interested in presence.”
After many years in Hamburg, New York, Paris, and Berlin, Alfred Steffen now lives and works again in the Rhineland, Germany.
Bibliography
Monographs
Alfred Steffen - One World ››››› check this out ›››››
text: Cordt Schnibben, 176 pages, 24 x 34 cm, 110 pictures, hardcover
Edition Braus ISBN 3-89904-060-0
Alfred Steffen - Portrait of a Generation- The Love Parade Family Book ›››››check this out ›››››
text: Philipp Oehmke, 160 pages, 142 pictures
Taschen-Verlag ISBN 3-8228-8178-3
text: Philipp Oehmke, 160 pages, 142 pictures
Taschen-Verlag ISBN 3-8228-8178-3
Alfred Steffen - Portraits
exhibition catalogue CD-Rom
digital world edition ISBN 3-930543-00-1
exhibition catalogue CD-Rom
digital world edition ISBN 3-930543-00-1
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OTHERS
Wear Your Face 2012
ISBN 3-942831-33-3
ISBN 3-942831-33-3
German Fashion Design 2011
ISBN 3-942405-26-3
ISBN 3-942405-26-3
Sagen Sie jetzt nichts 2010
ISBN 3-86615-807-8
ISBN 3-86615-807-8
Sagen Sie jetzt nichts 2008
ISBN 3-86615-657-9
ISBN 3-86615-657-9
Vogue-Gespräche 2004
ISBN 3-7913-3181-2
ISBN 3-7913-3181-2
Mythos St. Pauli - Photographien 2002
ISBN 392385952X
ISBN 392385952X
Rock'n roll attitudes 1997
ISBN 978-286-234251-1
ISBN 978-286-234251-1
