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Karsten Thormaehlen
Thormaehlen inÖtztal,Tyrol,Austria, 2015
Born	Bad Kreuznach,Rhineland-Palatinate,West Germany (nowGermany)
Education	Fachhochschule Wiesbaden (nowRheinMain University of Applied Sciences), 1988–1993,Wiesbaden, Germany
Occupation(s)	portrait photographer,still life photographer,Creative director
Years active	1985–present
Known for	Portraits of Centenarians
Style	Purism, beauty of aging,Documentary photography
Spouse(s)	Michaela Thormaehlen (2000–present)
Website	www.karstenthormaehlen.com

Karsten Thormaehlen is a Germanphotographer,editor andcreative director. He lives and works inWiesbaden, Germany.

Thormaehlen grew up inBad Kreuznach andBingen am Rhein, Germany. After a commercial apprenticeship and civilian service he studiedphilosophy,arthistory,political science andgraphic design in Mainz and Wiesbaden, where he graduated with honors in 1993.^[1]

Thormaehlen's projects include portraying people over the age of 100 years and senior athletes. His work includesJahrhundertmensch (2008),^[2]Happy at Hundred (2011),^[3]Aging Gracefully (2017)^[4] andSilver Heroes (2009).^[5] They have been published as books and exhibited. His work has received awards from theArt Directors Club,^[6] Tokyo Type Directors Club,Cannes Lions,Clio Awards,D&AD,New York Festivals,Lucie Awards,^[7] and Portrait of Humanity.^{[citation needed]} His works "Erika E., born in 1910", and "Susannah M. Jones, at age 116", were included in exhibitions at theNational Portrait Gallery in London as part of the 2011 and 2016Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prizes.^[8] His work has been included inThe Atlantic,^[9]Buzz Feed,^[10]The Guardian,^[11]Harvard Business Review,^[12]The Japan Times,^[13]Kinfolk,^[14]The New York Times,^[15] andSmithsonian Magazine.^[16]

His seriesSilver Heroes inspired theWorld Health Organization to launch its first global campaign againstagism in 2012.^[17] In 2021, portraits from his seriesAging Gracefully were displayed as part of the LondonDesign Museum's exhibitionNew Old – Designing for our future selves at thePratt Manhattan Gallery in New York City and his first solo exhibitionNot Another Second^[18][19][20] was shown in 2021 and 2023 at the art galleries ofThe Watermark at Brooklyn Heights andThe Watermark at Westwood Village.^[21]

Thormaehlen works as a commercial photographer, specialising inarchitecture,^[22] still life^[23] and portrait photography. He has also been anassistant professor and lecturer at various institutions.^[24]

Thormaehlen's family members were involved in Germany's 20th century art scene. His great-grandfather Emil Thormaehlen (1859–1941) was an architect and principal of the arts and crafts schools Magdeburg and Cologne. He was also co-founder ofDeutscher Werkbund.^[25] One of his two sons, Ludwig Thormaehlen (1889–1956), was a professor of Art History, a sculptor and between 1914 and 1933 a curator at theAlte Nationalgalerie Berlin.^[26] Among other artists he was friends withEdvard Munch,Ludwig Kirchner andErich Heckel, a member of theexpressionist artist's groupBrücke.^[27] His great-great aunt Alexe Altenkirch^[28] (1871–1943) was a painter and graphic designer at Zanders Papers. She had been photographed byAugust Sander for his seriesPeople of the 20th Century.

• 2009:Karsten Thormaehlen: Silver Heroes, Frankfurt City Public Health Department,Frankfurt am Main, Germany^[29]
• 2010:Karsten Thormaehlen: Jahrhundertmensch, Zollamtsaal, Haus am Dom,Frankfurt am Main, Germany^[30]
• 2014:Karsten Thormaehlen: Pioniere der Zukunft,University of Zurich, Zurich-Schlieren,Switzerland^[31]
• 2014:Karsten Thormaehlen: Aktiv in die Zukunft,DOSB Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund, Dominikanerkloster, Frankfurt am Main, Germany^[32]
• 2015:Karsten Thormaehlen: Happy at Hundred,Toranomon Hills, Tokyo, Japan, 16–18 April 2015^[33]
• 2021:Karsten Thormaehlen: Not Another Second,The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York, January 2021^[34][35]
• 2023:Karsten Thormaehlen: Not Another Second,The Watermark at Westwood Village, Los Angeles, California, January 2023^[36]

• 2004:Im Rausch der Dinge,Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland^[37]
• 2005:The Nature of Skin, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Barlach Halle K, Hamburg, Germany^[38]
• 2011:Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize,National Portrait Gallery, London^[39]
• 2016:Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, London^[40]
• 2018:Pink is the New Grey, Weltkulturenmuseum, Frankfurt, Germany^[41]

• Rome. Kempen, Germany:teNeues, 2004.ISBN 978-3-8238-4578-2.
• Jahrhundertmensch. Frankfurt am Main, 2008.ISBN 978-3-00-025096-5.
• Happy at Hundred. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2011.ISBN 978-3-86-828243-6.
• Silver Heroes. Heidelberg:Kehrer, 2012.ISBN 978-3-86-828303-7.
• Aging Gracefully. San Francisco:Chronicle, 2017.ISBN 978-1-45-214533-4.^[42][43][44]
• Not Another Second – LGBT+ Seniors Share Their Stories, ed. by Ines Newby and June Hussey, Tucson, Arizona: Watermark Retirement Communities, 2021.ISBN 978-0-5788-0580-1..
• Young at Heart, ed. by Christine von Arnim, Göttingen, Germany:Steidl, 2021.ISBN 978-3-96999-029-2.
• 100 Jahre Lebensglück. Munich: Knesebeck, 2025.ISBN 978-3-95728-990-2.^[45]

• 2013: Nominated,Deutscher Alterspreis^[46]
• 2015: Silver winner,Clio Awards, Public Service, Print category, for a photograph from his centenarians series used in advertising New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation / Skinfoods^[47]
• 2016:Design and Art Direction (D&AD) London^[48]
• 2016: Shortlisted,Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, London, for a photograph from his centenarians series^[40]
• 2017: Bronze in Portraiture/Personality,Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, for a photograph from his centenarians series^[49]
• 2021: Shortlisted,Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Health and Wellness category^[50][51]

• Media related toKarsten Thormaehlen at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

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• People from Bad Kreuznach
• Photographers from Rhineland-Palatinate

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