Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1954 Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany (now Germany)

Year of Migration to the UK: 1976

Biography

Photographer Karen Knorr was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1954. In 1958, her family moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where her father established an import export business. Knorr's formative years there, surrounded by diverse cultures and languages, deeply influenced her artistic identity. After secondary school, she moved to Paris in 1973 to study fine art at L’Atelier, a foundation course for entry to L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Arts Decoratifs. Knorr relocated to London in 1976 to study at the University of Westminster, under renowned photographer Eileen Cowin, and artist Victor Burgin, who introduced her to innovative methods of critically engaging with photography and examining its connections to institutions and heritage. During this time, she began exhibiting photography that engaged with debates in cultural studies and film theory, particularly the ‘politics of representation’ emerging in the late 1970s and early 1980s, marking the start of her critical engagement with photography, and laying the groundwork for her future explorations of cultural heritage and its ideological underpinnings.

Knorr has taken inspiration from both contemporary and older photographers, including émigré, Bill Brandt, Bill Owens, and Diane Arbus, as well as conceptual artists, such as Michael Asher, Martha Rosler, Andrea Fraser, and Hans Haacke, the latter known for his work on institutional critique. Her artistic journey has been shaped by her extensive travels and the multicultural influences she has experienced. Reflecting on her upbringing, Knorr acknowledges that her identity has been formed by a layering of cross-cultural influences and also by her relationship with the students she has taught. She credits her multicultural background for giving her a unique perspective, which she brings to her work (Holden Luntz Gallery).

Knorr's work, described as ‘polysemous’, offers multiple interpretations and challenges viewers to reconsider their perceptions of reality and culture. By juxtaposing the natural and constructed worlds, she creates a dialogue that questions societal norms and the significance of cultural heritage. Knorr acknowledges that her use of aesthetics and beauty may be problematic, but she views it as a strategic approach to engage viewers more profoundly. By creating visually captivating and beautiful images, she aims to induce a suspension of disbelief, encouraging the audience to spend more time with her work and to reflect on the deeper issues depicted. Her photographs are not merely aesthetic statements, but also serve as a form of social activism, advocating for the protection of heritage and the natural world.

Since the 1980s, her photography has interrogated themes of post-colonialism and aesthetics. One of her most acclaimed series, India Song (2008–20), explores the stories and myths of India by photographing exotic animals and placing them in temples and palaces across heritage sites in Rajasthan. The series exemplifies her ability to merge the analogue with the digital, creating visually seductive images that blur the boundaries between reality and illusion. Knorr describes her work as ‘disruption’ or ‘intervention’, aiming to challenge the reality that viewers observe, drawing influences from surrealism and magical realism (Andrew Leci interview). Knorr’s Fables series (2004–8) further demonstrates her unique approach, where she playfully mixes analogue and digital photography, reconfiguring tales from Ovid, Aesop, and La Fontaine with elements from popular culture, such as Disney films and David Attenborough's nature documentaries. By placing animals in human-dominated cultural sites, such as museums and heritage locations, Knorr highlights the divide between nature and culture, creating a paradoxical space that questions the assumptions of her photographic content. Monogatari (2012–17) explores Japanese heritage and culture by locating animals and people within architectural sites, inspired by Knorr’s travels to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Ise. Prompted by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Knorr captures the transient beauty of seasons and the enduring legacy of temples and shrines. Continuing themes from Fables and India Song, the series features animals in elegant settings, inspired by The Tale of Genji and Japanese folklore, including yōkai—supernatural creatures with both animal and human traits.

Knorr’s recent solo exhibitions include Transmigrations, Augusta Edwards Fine Art, London (2021) and Every Encounter Treasured, White Conduit Projects, London (2023). In 2017 her work featured in Constellations: Highlights from the Nation’s Collection of Modern Art at Tate Liverpool. In 2022, Knorr participated in Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors at the Imperial War Museum, London. Knorr received the V International Photography Pilar Citoler Prize in 2010, was nominated for the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2011 and 2012, and the Prix Pictet in 2012 and 2018. She has held academic positions, notably as Professor of Photography, University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey (UCA). She has also taught and lectured internationally including at Tate, University of Westminster, Goldsmiths College, Harvard University, and The Art Institute of Chicago. In the UK public domain, her work is represented in the Tate Collection. Knorr is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has been Chair of Women in Photography. She is based in London, England.

Related books

Karen Knorr, Sabina Jaskot-Gill and Jean Wainwright, Karen Knorr - Connoisseurs & Academies (Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2024)
Karen Knorr: Belgravia (London: Stanley / Barker, 2015)
Karen Knorr and Rosa Maria Falvo, Karen Knorr: India Song (Milano: Skira: 2014)
Karen Knorr, Cristina Elena Coca Villar and Rosa Juanes, Karen Knorr (Cordoba: La Fábrica, 2011)
Karen Knorr and Anna Fox, Transmigrations: Fables and India Song (Bangalore: Tasveer, 2010)
Genii Loci: the Photographic Work of Karen Knorr (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2002)
Karen Knorr: Photographie, Allégorie et Palimpseste (Caen: FRAC Basse-Normandie, 2001)
The Fortune Teller: Karen Knorr, Lorna Simpson, Olivier Richon (Rochdale: Rochdale Art Gallery, 1992)
Karen Knorr and Antonio Guzmán, Karen Knorr: Vues de l'Esprit: Photographies (Rennes: Galerie Art et Essai, 1989)
Magnificent Obsession : Karen Knorr, Mark Lewis, Geoff Miles, Olivier Richon, Mitra Tabrizian (Toronto: ARC Gallery, 1985)

Public collections

Tate Gallery

Related organisations

Royal Photographic Society (Fellow)
University of Westminster (student)
Women in Photography (Chair)

Selected exhibitions

Fields of Vision: Contemporary Photography, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, London (2024)
The Treasure House Fair, London (2024)
Photo London, Somerset House, London (2023)
Every Encounter Treasured, solo exhibition, White Conduit Projects, London (2023)
Historic & Recent Work by Women, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, London (2023)
Masterpiece Art Fair, London (2022)
Photo London, Somerset House, London (2022)
Telling Stories: Picture Post and its Legacy, James Hyman Gallery, London (2022)
Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, Imperial War Museum, London (2022)
Karen Knorr: Transmigrations, Augusta Edwards Fine Art, London (2021)
Photo London, Somerset House, London (2021)
Island Life: Photographs from the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (2021)
Masculinities: Liberation through Photography, Barbican London (2020)
Ridiculous!, Elephant West, London (2020)
Masterpiece London, Royal Hospital Chelsea (2019)
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019)
Beyond Documentary: Experimental Photography in London 1976-2006, Museum of London (2018)
Here We Are, Old Sessions House, London (2017)
Creating the Countryside: Thomas Gainsborough to Today, Compton Verney, Warwickshire (2017)
Constellations: Highlights from the Nation’s Collection of Modern Art, Tate Liverpool (2017)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Karen Knorr]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Karen Knorr photographer