Photographer Gregor Torz's Moda
When Gregor Törzs finds something he feels the inner longing to hold it against the light. Whether it is a place, an object or a moment, for him it always refers to transparency and the hidden qualities of fragility, love, secret or perfection.
Born 1970, Gregor Törzs´ background and training make his approach to art unique. He started his career as a trainee in advertising in his hometown Hamburg. With nineteen he was drawn to Los Angeles, where he learned the film craft from Academy Award winning special effect experts John Dykstra and Dough Smith; later he worked as a lighting technician and as cinematographer.
In 1993, he became Director of Photography, establishing himself in the world of advertising and fashion, working with major stars and commercial brands. Today, Törzs mainly focuses on art photography and platinum printing. He lives and works in Berlin. In 2006 Törzs introduced his fine art photography with his series „Boy on Safari“, depicted in dark landscapes of surreal appearance entirely shot in dioramas. In his photographs one can see Törzs’ incredible ability to create striking pictures, using only the light at hand. His „Ciel Lourd“ series in 2008 is a continuation of his interest in photographing a world between the seeming and the being. For this series, he created a waterproof housing for his favorite old camera and spent hundreds of hours underwater. Törzs also took large matte paintings with him into the ocean in order to create these surreal underwater moments. A technique that was used in movies before computers took over the world of visual FX.
Throughout the years he has also been interested in microscopic photography, as can be seen in his photographs of watch movements, gemstones and insects. For his microtype series „Plus grand que Moi” in 2010, Törzs introduced the art of platinum printing to his work. In this elaborate method of photography he creates his platinum prints with his own hands, adapting each sheet to the demands of his negatives. He often uses handcrafted Japanese paper, such as razor thin gampi paper. There are only a few labs worldwide that can offer and are capable of delivering these high standards of platinum prints, which is why Törzs’ dedication and mastery of such a complicated printing method adds another layer to his work.
In 2014 he designed and built the first 9x14“ analog underwater camera in the world, the Ultramarine 914. With it‘s 24x36cm super large format negative, it captures an emotion of the underwater world in a way one has never seen before. In addition to Törzs´ underwater photography that year, he also introduced platinum photograms to his body of work. The series “Bliss“ is directly printed from glass plates which are treated with complex salt solutions. The results are extremely fine and fragile depictions of abstract naturally grown formations. Gregor Törzs´ work is regularly shown in solo and group shows as well as trade fares such as AIPAD and Paris Photo.
