About

Fritz Peyer

Germany

Fritz Peyer (München, 1919 - Hamburg, 2001) was a German photojournalist and theatre photographer, specialized in opera, ballet and horse sports. Peyer started training as an engineer, but was drafted into the army before he could finish his education. After the Second World War, Peyer came to work in the theatre by chance, first as a lighting technician and stagehand at the Hamburger Kammerspielen, and later as an assistant of theatre photographer Rosemarie Clausen.

Peyer was a self-taught photographer, who worked as a freelance photographer for the Hamburger Kammerspielen and the Hamburgische Staatsoper. He was also an accomplished sports photographer, specialized in horse sports such as riding and jumping shows. In 1996, he was awarded the Alexander Zinn Prize by the city of Hamburg.

In 2004, Fritz Peyer's widow donated his entire collection of horse negatives to the Deutsches Pferdemuseum in Verden near Bremen. His theatre photos are kept in the Deutsches Theatermuseum in München.