Thomas Hoepker (1936–2024)
We mourn the great and highly acclaimed Leica photographer
Leica shares a multifaceted, intense, and wonderful friendship with Thomas Hoepker: since 2014, he has been a renowned member of the Leica Hall of Fame, his pictures have been exhibited in many Leica Galleries worldwide in recent years, and the major retrospective "Thomas Hoepker – Bilderfabrikant" was presented at the Ernst Leitz Museum two years ago, as well as the Leica Picture of the Year 2022. Above all, the friendship stands for the long-standing connection and shared passion for Leica photography. For Leica, Thomas Hoepker was not only an excellent photographer but also a humorous, empathetic, and open person.
After a long illness, the great humanist with a camera passed away on July 10, 2024, in Santiago de Chile. We mourn a sensitive photographer and enthusiastic observer who always combined documentation and truthfulness with a precise eye for the moment and sympathy for people.
With great sadness, we bow to his life's work, his still to be discovered oeuvre. Thomas Hoepker, who always modestly referred to himself as a commissioned photographer, as an image maker (“Bilderfabrikant“), has left the world a wonderful treasure of images. Shaped by nothing less than an honest interest in reality, in the truth of the moment.
Portrait © Arne Wesenberg
