I was born in 1968 in a small city in a big industrial area in the west of Germany. I lived there until I finished school in 1988. Towards the end of my high school years, my interest in art and design started to grow. I bought my first camera and began to print my own photos.
After my army service in 1989, I moved to Stuttgart in the south of Germany to work in the darkroom of the photographic department at Mercedes-Benz. I left after three months, and started assisting in a car photography studio. After one month, I left the studio and the area. I went to Cologne and tried to assist again. After one week, I quit. This concludes my time as an assistant.
Thereafter, I tried to find a place to study Photography or Graphic Design, but I failed several entrance examinations (at least ten) in the years that followed. In 1990 I went to Hannover and started to set up my own studio.
During the five years that I spent in Hannover, I built up a really good reputation and established myself as a young professional Photographer. In 1995, I was also accepted by the BFF (German Association of Photographers) as one of three youngest full members to ever be admitted. Without speaking a single word of French, I moved to Paris and lived there for a few months, photographing some free productions.
I returned to Hannover in 1996, and started doing some work for national magazines and advertising companies.
In 1997, I left Hannover again and set up a studio in Hamburg. I started to work for Jung von Matt and Springer & Jacoby – the two leading creative ad agencies in Germany at the time.
From 1999 onwards, I had agent representation in Europe. I started to shoot cars again and worked more and more internationally.
2003 by Simon Puschmann
2016 by Michael Neugebauer
In February 2003, I visited New York (and the US) for the first time ever. During this trip, I photographed the first picture for the “My world” series.
In 2004 I shot the Mercedes CLS launch campaign. The images were used all over Europe, South Africa, Canada, and Asia. This campaign launched my international career. Since then, I have shot campaigns for agencies all over the world.
I dissolved my Hamburg studio in 2005, to have more freedom to work on international projects. For the next three years I shared my time between Hamburg, New York and LA, and worked mainly in the US.
In 2008 I worked on my first CGI project and put my focus again on working in Europe.
During November 2012, I exhibited the “My world” series in Hannover for the first time.
On the night of the opening, I met my love Marijke; the beginning of a lot of changes in my life.