Andreas Gursky is well known for his large-scale, colour photographs which critically document the effects of globalisation and capitalism on contemporary life. Gursky’s studies under Bernd and Hilla Becher in the early 1980s at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, were an early influence in his approach to making photographs. They were particularly well known for their de-personalised images of industrial buildings often shot in sequence to emphasise the purely documentary approach. Also influential were the New Topographics movement photographers in the United States, who photographed in an anonymous 'style' often depicting the ordinary landscapes of suburban developments and industrial parks.

Gursky’s later work is characterised by its distinct clarity, attention to composition, and a scale that recalls historical landscape paintings. His photographs emphasise the relationships of global communities and a contemporary unitary existence. In doing so Gursky regularly employs a high point of view which allows him to capture large expanses of architecture, interiors, and vast landscapes. Gursky also uses digital manipulation to further enhance the striking nature of his images.

Andreas Gursky’s work is held in collections at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Modern, London; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He has exhibited internationally including at the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2004), the Shanghai Biennale (2002), and the Sydney Biennial (2000). Andreas Gursky holds the record for the highest price paid for a single photographic work at auction.

Andreas Gursky lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.