This year, the WELTKUNSTZIMMER is showing the French music photographer's first exhibition in Germany.

Richard Bellia, born in France in 1962, came to combine his passion for music and photography in London in the 1980s. His pictures were first published in music magazines, later he also became a music journalist. He photographed the greats - including The Cure, Depeche Mode, Nirvana and David Bowie, but also dazzling protagonists from various musical eras such as punk (including Joe Strummer, Ramones, The Cramps, L7, Henry Rollins and Joy Division) and hip hop (including Wu Tang Clan, ODB, LL Cool J, Eric B. and Rakim).

Today, Bellia's work hangs in art galleries and private collections, and his photographs have been published in several bestselling monographs. He has always been loyal to Hasselblad and analog photography and has no interest in digital photography. With his analog photos, he takes the audience to the stages, the festivals, the places where music takes place. "Not being idle at a concert or festival, keeping your hands busy... with a camera in your hand, you pay much more attention to what's happening. You're a meter away, elbows on the stage, you take advantage of it," says Richard Bellia, and this closeness to the musicians is what he captures, it's what he wants, it's what he lets the audience feel when they first look at his pictures. In 2016, he published the extensive catalog “Un oeil sur la musique 1980 - 2016”, with more than 1000 photographs of musicians from the last four decades. Thirty-six years of illustrated history of legends, road trips and adventures, which Bellia presents casually and with a special dedication, enthusiasm and passion for his subject.
Mit der Ausstellung im Weltkunstzimmer spürt Bellia der Frage nach, was es bedeutet, Musik durch das fotografische Auge zu betrachten.