Volker Hinz lives and breathes photography, his passion. As a 20-year-old he sold his first pictures and at just 24 he became director of Fotoagentur Sven Simon in Bonn, before joining Stern magazine in Hamburg in 1974. For 40 years he played a key role in shaping the visual aesthetic of the magazine. Hinz has created a comprehensive and varied oeuvre and ranks among the most influential photographers worldwide. Peter-Matthias Gaede studied social sciences at the University of Gottingen and attended the Henri Nannen School of Journalism. He worked at the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper before joining GEO magazine in 1983, serving as its Editor-in-Chief from 1994 to 2014 and as editor of a series of GEO spin-offs. Gaede is on the board of several organisations, including the Korber Foundation, Reporters without Borders, Germany, and UNICEF Germany.

Weighing more than four kilograms, this treasure-trove spans almost five decades of work... it has all the hallmarks of a collector's item. LFI - Leica Photography International; The photographers' photographer. Candida Hofer, Richard Avedon, Karl Lagerfeld and Andy Warhol are just some of the great camera artists portrayed and staged by Hinz in the pictures of this sumptuous volume. Vogue; It is his declaration of love for photography and a must for all lovers and collectors of photography. Viva.

• Contents: Prelude; Out and about discovering people; The plates; Index.