Willy Puchner
Encyclopedia
Willy Puchner is an Austrian
photographer, artist
, painter
and author
.
.
, Lower Austria
, where his parents owned a photo studio. In 1967 he moved to Vienna
to attend photography
classes at the Höhere Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Vienna Federal Training and Research Institute of Graphic Arts).
After graduation in 1974 he taught photography there for two years.
Since 1978 Puchner works as a freelance photographer and writer based in Vienna.
In 1983 he started to study philosophy, history and sociology. Puchner finished his studies in 1988 with a master degree in philosophy. His thesis was "Über private Fotografie" (On Private Photography). Since 1988 he gave numerous speeches "On Private Photography" at universities, museums and galleries. Beginning in 1989 Puchner works regularly for the Wiener Zeitung
(the oldest daily newspaper of the world).
Willy Puchner became famous with his project "Penguins - Traveling the World". For four years he traveled with his penguins Joe and Sally to the sites of his and our yearning: to the sea and into the desert, to New York, Sydney and Paris, Venice, Tokyo, Honolulu, Rome and Cairo, in order to capture them in photos. There they are now connected forever, lost forever. Before the penguins’ eyes the apparently familiar having been illustrated thousands of times, becomes different and new again.
Freddy Langer, a journalist, wrote about this project in the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung
(FAZ): "He let them pose in front of word famous sights, pretending they were tourists – and he took their photograph (picture, snapshot). So he created the most beautiful photo album regarding traveling of the 20th century: ”The Longings of the Penguins” (FAZ 08/03/2001)
Willy Puchner likes to work with old people, creating the projects "Die 90-jährigen" (At the Age of 90), "Dialog mit dem Alter" (Dialogue with the High Age), "Die 100-jährigen" (At the Age of 100), "Lebensgeschichte und Fotografie" (Oral History and Photography) and "Liebe im Alter" (Love at High Age).
.
, Stern
, GEO
, Life
(USA), Corriere della Sera
(Italy), Marco Polo (Japan), Asahi Camera
, (Japan), Universum ( Austria), Falter
, Wiener Zeitung
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
photographer, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Life
Puchner was born and grew up in Mistelbach an der ZayaMistelbach
For the town in Germany, see Mistelbach, Bavaria.Mistelbach an der Zaya is a town in the northeast of Austria in so called Lower Austria, one of Austria's nine Federal States. It is located roughly 40 km northeast of Austria's capital Vienna...
, Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, where his parents owned a photo studio. In 1967 he moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
to attend photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
classes at the Höhere Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Vienna Federal Training and Research Institute of Graphic Arts).
After graduation in 1974 he taught photography there for two years.
Since 1978 Puchner works as a freelance photographer and writer based in Vienna.
In 1983 he started to study philosophy, history and sociology. Puchner finished his studies in 1988 with a master degree in philosophy. His thesis was "Über private Fotografie" (On Private Photography). Since 1988 he gave numerous speeches "On Private Photography" at universities, museums and galleries. Beginning in 1989 Puchner works regularly for the Wiener Zeitung
Wiener Zeitung
Wiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
(the oldest daily newspaper of the world).
Willy Puchner became famous with his project "Penguins - Traveling the World". For four years he traveled with his penguins Joe and Sally to the sites of his and our yearning: to the sea and into the desert, to New York, Sydney and Paris, Venice, Tokyo, Honolulu, Rome and Cairo, in order to capture them in photos. There they are now connected forever, lost forever. Before the penguins’ eyes the apparently familiar having been illustrated thousands of times, becomes different and new again.
Freddy Langer, a journalist, wrote about this project in the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
(FAZ): "He let them pose in front of word famous sights, pretending they were tourists – and he took their photograph (picture, snapshot). So he created the most beautiful photo album regarding traveling of the 20th century: ”The Longings of the Penguins” (FAZ 08/03/2001)
Willy Puchner likes to work with old people, creating the projects "Die 90-jährigen" (At the Age of 90), "Dialog mit dem Alter" (Dialogue with the High Age), "Die 100-jährigen" (At the Age of 100), "Lebensgeschichte und Fotografie" (Oral History and Photography) and "Liebe im Alter" (Love at High Age).
Exhibitions
- 1980 Museum Moderner Kunst (Museum of Modern Art), ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(Austria) - 1980 Künstlerhaus (House of Artists), N.Ö. Galerie, Vienna (Austria)
- 1982 Museum des 20. Jahrhundert (Museum of the 20th Century), Vienna (Austria)
- 1984 Österreichisches Fotomuseum (Austrian Museum of Photography), Bad IschlBad IschlBad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach...
- 1992 Steirischer Herbst, GrazGrazThe more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
- 2001 "On the Road at Home" (Auf Reisen zu Hause), gallery Atrium ed Arte, Vienna
- 2005 Stopover New York, gallery Atrium ed Arte, Vienna
- Further exhibitions in Berlin, Bremen, Kleve, Braunschweig, Klagenfurt, Norfolk (Washington, USA), Bombay (India), Beirut (Lebanon) and in the Japanese cities Tokyo, Osaka, Oita, Nagoya and Sapporo
English Editions
- Joe & Sally: A long way from home, 1993, ISBN 0-14023-1188
- Penguins - Traveling the World, 1999, ISBN 3-82-901412-0
- Vienna. Pleasure and Melancholy, 2008, ISBN 3-85-033177-6
Stamps
4 stamps out of the book Tagebuch der Natur (diary of nature)Publications in Magazines
Extrablatt, konkretKonkret
konkret has been the name of two German magazines.konkret was originally the name of a magazine established by Klaus Rainer Röhl in 1957, that was an influential magazine on the German political left in the 1960s...
, Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
, GEO
GEO (magazine)
GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the National Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied by opulent pictures.The first edition appeared in Germany in 1976...
, Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
(USA), Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
(Italy), Marco Polo (Japan), Asahi Camera
Asahi Camera
is a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....
, (Japan), Universum ( Austria), Falter
Falter
Falter is a weekly magazine published in Vienna, Austria.Founded in 1977, it is published weekly on Wednesdays. Since Spring 2005 a local edition has also been published in Styria. The magazine reports from a broadly left-liberal perspective on politics, media, culture and the life...
, Wiener Zeitung
Wiener Zeitung
Wiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
Awards
- 1983 Theodor-Körner-Preis for art, see also Theodor KörnerTheodor Körner----Theodor Körner, Edler von Siegringen served as the fifth President of Austria, between 1951 and 1957.- Life :...
- 1988 Theodor-Körner-Preis for social sciences
- 2002 Österreichischer Staatspreis für Kinder- und Jugendliteratur for Tagebuch der Natur
- 2002 Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien for Tagebuch der Natur