Danish-born Klaus Thymann is a multi award-winning photographer, filmmaker, writer and creative director. He has developed an original viewpoint having worked across a wide range of subjects and media, utilising a cross-disciplinary skill-set combining in-depth digital knowledge, image making, mapping, documentary and exploration.
Thymann started working as a photographer at the age of fourteen photographing tourists in Copenhagen for the Canal Tour and began working for publications during his teenage years. In 1996he was the youngest ever winner of the Scandinavian Kodak Gold Award, in 2013 he won the Sony World Photography Award.
In 1997 he co-founded a magazine, Virus, a biannual publication with in-depth features. Virus was first to uncover Echelon (the popular name to describe a signal intelligence system capable of interception communication content). The feature ultimately led to an investigation by a committee of the European Parliament with a report published in 2001.
A significant body of work is Hybrids, which was produced over a period of four years when Thymann mapped peculiar hybrid cultures around the planet, such as Snow Polo in St. Moritz, Gay Rodeo in LA, Underwater Striptease in Chile, Underground Gardening in Tokyo.
Building on past experiences and a passion for the environment led him to set a charity; Project Pressure is documenting the world’s vanishing glaciers, collaborating with world-renowned artists creating and exhibiting work to engage emotions in order to incite positive behavioural change as well as generating useful data for scientific use. Project Pressure has pioneered innovative new technological developments and forged partnerships with prestigious scientific bodies including World Glacier Monitoring Service and NASA. In 2011 Project Pressure was recognized as an official contributor to GTN-G (Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers). Further recognition and funding have come from prestigious beneficiaries including The Queen of Denmark and Arts Council England. His devotion and passion for the environment led him to complete a BSc in Environmental Studies.
Throughout his practice, Thymann reveals a deeply held interest in the act of exploring and mapping–both in a physical sense and in a more conceptual manner; one of seeking out new practices and experimenting with new techniques and approaches. He has conducted the only scuba dive of the world’s clearest lake in New Zealand, documented tourism in Iraq, photographed parkour in Gaza and explored the glaciers of Uganda and Congovia new trekking routes. Thymann is currently exploring underwater rivers on the Yucatan in Mexico, he wrote and directed a long-format documentary film of this form of environmental exploration, Flows. Flows have music by Thom Yorke.
He has been featured by BBC, CNN, NPR, Wired, The Guardian, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Vice, Creative Review, Discovery Channel and others, has created global work for brands like Nike, Sony and Johnnie Walker. He regularly contributes to i-D Magazine, The Guardian, New York Times, Wired and others.
Throughout his career, Thymann has consulted and undertaken pro bono assignments for charities and NGOs such as The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Wildlife Trust, Red Cross, The Glacier Trust, Global Ocean Trust, London Cycling Campaign, The Homeless World Cup, Teenage Cancer Trust, Women for Women, DACS and more.
Thymann has guest lectured at Oxford University, The Photographers’ Gallery, Central St. Martins College of Art and Design and many other places.
