Pierre Winther is a world renowned conceptualist, raconteur, image maker, and visionary. For over three decades, the Copenhagen born artist has pioneered the realms of photography and film. He moves seamlessly across both mediums, expanding on one to create the other, producing high concept visuals that innovate as much as they inspire. With his mind deeply rooted in cinema, Winther composes each image impeccably, telling entire narratives in a single moment. He captures the point at which the story reveals itself, like the essential action of a temporal scene frozen in time. Such images transcend their static motif, nurturing curiosity, prompting the viewer to engage their imaginations, and to complete the story within their minds. The inherent cinematic quality in Winther’s images makes his characters feel very real, even when they inhabit a visual world that seems quite extraordinary. Timeless dramas unfold through depictions of organized chaos, presented in bold, saturated hues. He uses lighting and composition to propel his subjects from the surface of the image, allowing them to live among made up and sometimes hyper real worlds in ways that remain natural, human, and organic. This approach empowers the viewer to go deep within their imagination, to push the confines of subject matter and location into a mind space of metaphor, all the while retaining the integrity of the moment. Pierre’s images are instantly recognizable for their bold color, tension, and carefully staged, often dangerous real life scenarios. Whether it’s a motorbike leaping across a highway, a fashion figure caught in an apocalyptic setting or his most iconic image, Sharkriding (1990), featuring a man riding a 14 foot tiger shark in the Great Barrier Reef, each frame captures a moment where narrative, emotion, and myth collide. Shot without digital manipulation, Sharkriding epitomizes Winther’s fearless commitment to crafting constructed realities with absolute authenticity. His work has been exhibited and collected by some of Europe’s most respected institutions, including Fotografiska in Stockholm, Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, NRW Forum in Düsseldorf, and the Hilversum Museum in the Netherlands, to name a few. His photographs have also been featured in major exhibitions like Archaeology of Elegance, which showcased 200 photographs by 62 of the most influential image makers of the late 20th century. While Pierre Winther has had artistic collaborations with global brands such as Dunhill, Cartier, Diesel, Levi’s, Smirnoff, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, G Star, Lego, Energie Jeans, Finlandia, Mercedes, Coca Cola, Sony, BMW, and Nike, his approach is never commercial in spirit. These collaborations are built around his vision, never shaped by the client. The concept always begins with him. The brands, in essence, enter his world. A pivotal moment in Winther’s career was his collaboration with Diesel during the 1990s Successful Living campaign. What started as his personal art project Fellini on Acid, an 18 month exploration of surreal, thought provoking imagery addressing consumerism, identity, and human behavior, caught the attention of Diesel’s agency. This led to Winther redefining the brand’s visual universe, moving beyond conventional advertising to create cinematic, symbolic, and socially charged narratives. Iconic campaign images such as The Car Crash (1994) and House of Love (1993) exemplify this approach: meticulously staged scenes that blur absurdity with reality, offering advertising with the soul and edge of fine art. Winther’s role was unique; he was the originator of the campaign’s artistic concept, not merely a photographer. His work became the DNA of Diesel’s aesthetic and set a new standard for how brands and art can intersect. This collaboration also pioneered a model where independent art projects develop into commercial partnerships “art projects with a logo in the end,” as Winther puts it. The imagery from that era remains timeless, continuing to provoke reflection on the human condition and demonstrating that advertising at its best can transcend selling to become meaningful art. His imagery has also been published in leading international magazines like Vogue, The Face, i D, and Rolling Stone. He has directed music videos for cultural icons such as Björk, Massive Attack, INXS, Skunk Anansie, the Beastie Boys, and many more, all carrying his signature cinematic edge. It’s clear that for Winther, strong concepts are what drive the work, while the medium is almost incidental. He prefers film to digital and sets great store by avoiding digital manipulation. For Pierre Winther, the photograph is a fully realized scene planned, risked, and executed with total authorship. His work continues to resonate in both gallery spaces and the cultural mainstream because it doesn’t follow trends it creates worlds. Winther expanded into filmmaking by joining Propaganda Films in 1993, working alongside directors like David Fincher and David Lynch. Later, he was represented alongside visionary directors such as Terry Gilliam, Robert Rodriguez, and Terrence Malick, contributing to groundbreaking campaigns and TV projects that demanded a little extra creative edge.