Biografia
Manfred Baumann is an Austrian photographer best known for his portraits of celebrities, as well as his landscape, wildlife, and street photography.
After beginning his professional career in Canada in the mid-1990s, Baumann returned to Vienna and established himself as a freelance photographer. Inspired by his grandfather, who gave him his first camera, he developed a distinctive style that led to an international career.
From 2002 onward, Baumann photographed numerous celebrities and Hollywood icons. The first major international star in front of his lens was Sir Roger Moore, with whom he later developed a close friendship. Over the years, he also photographed Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Olivia Newton-John, and many other notable personalities.
Since 2011, Baumann has supported Austrian Cancer Aid through the DAC initiative, and since 2012 he has been an official photographer for PETA. He partnered with the National Geographic Society in 2013 and began his long-term collaboration with Leica Camera in 2016. Since 2017, he has been teaching for the Leica Academy worldwide and served as an international ambassador for Huawei alongside Robert Lewandowski.
His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Natural History Museum Vienna, Leica Galleries in Frankfurt, Prague, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Salzburg, and Vienna, as well as exhibitions in Germany and Australia. His exhibition "Rebirth" raised awareness for breast cancer and was presented in Vienna, Berlin, and at YES!CON in Germany. In 2025, he honored Dr. Jane Goodall with the exhibition "Jane," and one of his portraits of Goodall was featured on Leica's Wall of Fame in New York as part of the company's 100th anniversary celebrations.
Baumann has been a guest speaker at Adobe MAX in Los Angeles and the Leica Society International Conference in New York. In addition to his long-standing partnership with Leica, he also collaborates with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad.
He lives between Austria and Los Angeles with his family. Together with his wife, Nelly Baumann, he supports various animal welfare organizations and serves as an Honorary Ambassador supporting Jane Goodall's conservation initiatives.
