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Andreas Gursky, (born January 15, 1955, Leipzig, East Germany), German photographer known for his monumental digitally manipulated photographs that examine consumer culture and the busyness of contemporary life. His unique compositional strategies result in dramatic images that walk the line between representation and abstraction.Gursky, the son and grandson of commercial photographers, grew up in D?sseldorf, West Germany. During the late 1970s he studied photography in Essen at the Folkwang Academy (now part of the multicampus Folkwang University of the Arts). He then became a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Staatliche Kunstakademie in D?sseldorf (1981?87). There he started, like the majority of his peers, photographing in black and white with a handheld Leica camera, but he quickly went against trend and began working in colour with a larger 4 ? 5-inch (10.2 ? 12.7-cm) camera on a tripod. Despite his preference for working in colour, Gursky?s flat, dispassionate documentary style placed him squarely within the D?sseldorf school of photography, alongside Thomas Ruff, Candida H?fer, and Thomas Struth, all of whom studied under the Bechers. Gursky?s subject matter during the 1980s ranged from office-building security guards behind their desks to vast panoramas in which small figures engage in leisure activities to landscapes of the Ruhr River valley. Ratingen Swimming Pool (1987) shows a lush green landscape dotted with tiny figures swimming and relaxing by the pool. The scene was photographed from a considerable distance at a slightly elevated perspective. Though shot far from the pool, the image captures every element of the scene with extreme clarity and focus. Gursky?s thoroughgoing attention to detail in every part of the composition is a style for which he became known and celebrated.
Source :https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andreas-Gursky