Madame Hirsch by Brigitte Niedermair

Renate Hirsch Giacomuzzi leads a life that must seem unimaginably luxurious and highly staged to most people. Over the course of several years, photographer Brigitte Niedermair accompanied “Madame Hirsch” with her camera—at official events as well as within the private realm of her home. “Madame Hirsch” lights the candles on an elaborately decorated table, steps out of a gondola in Venice wearing an elegant evening gown, appears in a traditional luxury dirndl at Oktoberfest, or even goes Nordic walking in the early morning.

For “Madame Hirsch,” the staged is part of her reality. Always perfectly dressed, she expects the same precision and coherence from those closest to her. Brigitte Niedermair has evidently met these demands, and was rewarded with a photographic series that oscillates between mise-en-scène and authentic everyday life.