Photographer Thomas Billhardt died at the age of 87

He also photographed the famous “brother kiss” between SED party leader Erich Honecker and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev from 1979: photographer Thomas Billhardt died at the age of 87. This was announced by the Camera Work gallery in Berlin, which manages his life’s work. His family also confirmed death. The professional association of free photographers paid tribute to Billhardt’s “unmistakable kind”, war, suffering, but also the hope of people.

“With Thomas Billhardt’s death, we lose one of the most important reportage photographers in German division history,” said the gallery. His work, which he recorded in more than 50 countries, gave people a voice. “He became world famous with his photographs of the Vietnam War in the 1960s.”

Billhardt was born in Chemnitz in 1937. According to the gallery, an apprenticeship as a photographer started training at the guidance of his mother. At the beginning of his career, he was a works photographer in a lignite mine and publishing photographer at the postcard publisher. For GDR citizens, his pictures were a look into the world-they are still remembered by many today, the professional association praised Freie photographers.