Gosbert Gottmann is a German visual artist and self-taught photographer based in Frankfurt. Born in Ottenhöfen in the Black Forest, he studied Political Science and Economics at the University of Mannheim and has been working with photography for more than 25 years. His work often explores the human condition through themes such as suffering, identity, observation and social experience.
His photographs have been exhibited at institutions and events including Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, PhotoEspaña, Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo and Frankfurter Kunstverein. His work is also held in public and private collections, including the DZ BANK Art Collection. He has published several books with Kehrer Verlag, including Modern Sufferings (2001), Warriors (2004), Marathon People (2010), Spectators (2015) and Bärenstark (2016).
His book Freiheit Freedom Воля (Kehrer Verlag, 2026) responds to the war in Ukraine. Over four years, he worked with images connected to the war and changed them through abstraction, distortion and deformation, until faces dissolve and contours blur. The 120-page book holds 41 duotone images and texts by Gottmann, Jaroslaw Makarchuk and Marc Peschke, in German, English and Ukrainian.
