Andreas Gursky

Rhein II is a large color photograph of the Rhine River, digitally refined into horizontal bands of grass, water, and sky. In 2011, it sold for a record-setting price for a photograph at auction.

Gursky often uses large scale to make viewers confront systems such as markets, crowds, factories, stores, and landscapes. Works like 99 Cent and Chicago Board of Trade turn everyday or economic spaces into overwhelming visual fields.

Yes, Gursky studied at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf and is linked with the Becher-influenced Dusseldorf school. He is often discussed alongside Thomas Struth, Candida Hofer, and Thomas Ruff.

Yes, digital refinement and compositing are part of Gursky's mature practice. His images often keep a documentary surface while reorganizing detail, scale, and pattern in ways that go beyond a straight snapshot.