Image: Camera Work, Berlin
A presentation of Martin Schoeller’s work will be shown at Olympiastadion Berlin from 27 July to 9 August 2026, with selected portraits from his long-running ‘Close Up’ series installed in the stadium’s Ehrenhalle. The announcement comes through CAMERA WORK in Berlin, which says the display will be accessible to visitors as part of a stadium visit or guided tour, with tickets and further information available through the venue.
The project places Schoeller’s frontal portrait style in a setting associated with public performance and reputation. CAMERA WORK describes the exhibition space as one where pop stars and top athletes have historically appeared, creating a context in which the photographer’s direct approach takes on a particular resonance. The selected works are presented as a discussion of self-staging and character depiction, using the visual language of ‘Close Up’ to foreground comparison and photographic form.
Schoeller’s ‘Close Up’ series has been central to his practice for years and is identified by CAMERA WORK as internationally well known. The gallery says the series presents sitters independently of social status, using the same technique and lighting for each portrait. That consistent method, according to the exhibition text, is what gives the work its strength: a visual equality that invites viewers to compare the images directly and to focus on the photographic language itself.
The Berlin presentation also extends beyond the stadium. At the same time, CAMERA WORK Virtual Gallery is showing ‘30 Years of Close Up’, an online exhibition of more than 30 works by Schoeller. The digital project is described as offering an overview of the history of the series and also including staged portraits by the artist. CAMERA WORK says some of the works in that online presentation will be shown for the first time.
Schoeller is presented by CAMERA WORK as one of the best-known and most highly regarded portrait photographers in the world. The gallery’s artist page says he was born in Munich in 1968, studied photography at the Lette Verein in Berlin and in Hamburg, and moved to New York in the mid-1990s, where he worked as an assistant to Annie Leibovitz before beginning his own career. The same page notes his regular editorial work for titles including ‘National Geographic’, ‘The New Yorker’ and ‘Time Magazine’.
The artist page also frames ‘Close Up’ as a democratic portrait concept that places famous and unfamiliar subjects on equal footing. Among the names CAMERA WORK cites as having been photographed in the series are Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Anne Hathaway, Kobe Bryant, Udo Lindenberg and Adele. The exhibition at Olympiastadion Berlin runs from 27 July to 9 August 2026 in the Ehrenhalle, while ‘30 Years of Close Up’ is presented online through CAMERA WORK Virtual Gallery.
