Pico Risto, born in 1955 in Wächtersbach (Hesse), studied photography and painting from 1972 to 1976 at the Lette Verein and the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin. From 1979 to 1984, he lived in Paris as a freelance photographer, while also working in Ibiza and New York. Since the late 1970s, his work has been exhibited in Spain, Paris, and Germany. His photographs have appeared in international magazines—such as the American *Vogue*, *Photomagazine*, *Zoom*, *Rock & Folk*, and *Ultima Hora*—as well as in the international daily press. Today, Pico Risto lives and works in Berlin.

Looking back at the last thirty years of his life, one gets the impression that the photographer possessed an uncanny knack for gravitating toward places on the verge of major transformations and historically significant shifts.

In the late 1970s, the artist moved to Paris. Against the backdrop of the demolition of the historic market halls—known as the “Belly of Paris” (*le ventre de Paris*), which had stood since the 12th century—Risto witnessed the emergence of a new, improvised city center, anchored by the newly built Centre Pompidou and the Forum des Halles. These architectural masterpieces (such as the Centre Pompidou, 1979) found their way into his photographic oeuvre, as did images of the new star designers (e.g., the 20th-anniversary celebration of Yves Saint Laurent in 1981).

In the early 1980s, Pico Risto witnessed New York establishing itself as a leading capital of art and culture. Once again, the photographer had his finger on the pulse of the times. He lived and worked within the circle of Andy Warhol and the Factory. Together with the Pop Art artist, Risto realized various projects (including a workshop at the École des Arts Décoratifs and a “Photographisme” project at the Centre Polaroid in Paris). Pico Risto returned to Berlin in 1987 and experienced the transformative era surrounding the fall of the Wall firsthand. Beyond documenting the fall of the Wall itself—and the throngs of people crowding along the border on that historic day—the photographer always kept an eye out for subtle changes in the cityscape. He captured the incredibly long lines of people waiting outside banks to collect their “welcome money,” as well as the amusing, quirky tags left by graffiti artists to mark their presence in various locations. Risto’s keen eye for the small details that make his images so unique is also evident in his recent work—which rounds out the Berlin photography series collectively titled *Berliner Zimmer* (Berlin Room).

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