About Stefan Preiss

Stefan Preiss was born in 1968 and lives and works in the south of Germany. His passion for photography began as early as his childhood, when his parents gave him his first camera for Christmas – an Agfa pocket camera. A gift he has never forgotten and which marked the beginning of a lifelong photographic journey.
During his school years, he took his first portraits of friends, predominantly on black-and-white film and mainly in medium format. For a time, he also devoted himself to landscape photography, inspired by the work of Ansel Adams. Yet despite his growing experience, he felt that his pictures were still missing something essential.
He found a new direction whilst travelling through Nepal. Fascinated by the people he met along the way, he began to capture them and their worlds through photography. At first, he observed them from a distance, but gradually he sought to get up close. In doing so, he discovered that the essence of a portrait often lies in the encounter itself – in the trust, openness and human connection that develop between the subject and the photographer.
He found further formative inspiration in the work of Steve McCurry. Having first encountered McCurry’s photographs in books and exhibitions, he eventually met him in person in Munich. This encounter became a turning point in his development as a photographer and deepened his passion