Renowned photojournalist Thomas Hoepker dies at 88

Thomas Hoepker was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017. But he continued to take photos and travel. He was also involved in a 2022 documentary titled, "Dear Memories." In it, he fulfilled a big dream: A road trip through the USA together with his wife Christine. Hoepke died in Santiago, Chile, on July 10, 2024, at the age of 88.

One of Hoepker's most famous — and controversial — photos is a view of Manhattan from Brooklyn after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. When it was published five years later, Hoepker expressed the opinion that its subjects were unmoved by the events. Two of the people in the photo refuted that assessment, saying they were discussing the events with the others.

Thomas Hoepker was born in Munich in 1936. He started taking photographs as a teenager after his grandfather gave him a plate camera for his birthday. He began studying art history and archaeology but left university without graduating to start working as a photojournalist in 1959. He worked for numerous publications and joined the Magnum Agency in 1989.

Hoepker said of his work, "I am not an artist. I am an image maker." But his works are not simply visual documentations, instead they are distinguished by careful composition and empathy for the human condition. Still, he was careful to remain distant from his subjects at all times and tried not to interact with them beyond capturing their images.

One of Hoepker's first assignments took him to East Berlin in 1959 to document the 10th anniversary of East Germany's founding. He returned to both sides of the divided city numerous times. In 1974, he and his first wife, journalist Eva Windmöller, became "Stern" magazine's first accredited correspondents in East Berlin, where they lived for three years.

Another early photo series was made during a cross-country road trip through the United States. He was inspired by Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank's series, "The Americans." Like many West Germans of his generation, Hoepker had an idealized view of the US, and he was disappointed by the ignorance and intolerance he observed on the assignment.

Hoepker also created famous images of US boxing legend Muhammad Ali. He said of his charismatic subject, "Ali could be widely alert, sharp and observant, he loved to saunter down the streets, to banter with real people. He melted away when he saw children. They adored him, he hugged them, he did some shadow-boxing and then he took sudden naps in the backseat of his chauffeured Lincoln sedan."

Hoepker captured the still-intact World Trade Center in a more carefree context 18 years before 9/11. The photographer lived in New York from 1976 to 1987, where he worked as a photojournalist for the German news magazine "Stern."