Baumann grew up in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna, where he also attended school. After finishing secondary school, he began an apprenticeship at the Vienna-based trading company Julius Meinl at age 16[3] and eventually became a branch manager. In 1995, he moved to Canada to work as a photographer but returned to Vienna two years later to continue working independently. He credits his grandfather, who was also a photographer, as one of his biggest inspirations and the person who gave him his first camera, a Praktica.[4]
In 2014, he supported the animal welfare organization Four Paws by photographing German-speaking celebrities like Michael Mittermeier, Jeanette Biedermann, and Roberto Blanco for the campaign “More Humanity for Animals.”[8] Since 2016, he has been teaching globally for the Leica Akademie.[9]
In 2017/2018, Baumann appeared alongside Robert Lewandowski in an international campaign for a smartphone company.[10] His exhibition “Vienna” was shown in 2018/2019 at the Grand Hotel Wien, followed by his first Australian exhibition in February 2019.
In 2022, he was a guest speaker at the Adobe MAX Conference in Los Angeles.[11]
In 2023, Baumann was a speaker at the LSI/Leica conference in New York.[12] That same year, he curated an exhibition titled “REBIRTH” in Vienna focusing on breast cancer patients.[13]
In summer 2024, his exhibition “Reflections of Life” premiered at the Leica Gallery in Boston. It is set to continue at Leica Gallery Washington, D.C. in 2025.[14][15]
Also in 2025, he will open the exhibition JANE at the Grand Hotel Wien, dedicated to Jane Goodall and her life’s work.[16]
To mark Leica’s 100-year anniversary in spring 2025, one of Baumann’s portraits of Jane Goodall was featured on the “Wall of Leica” in New York.[17][18]
Manfred Baumann is married and has a son from a previous relationship. He lives and works in both Austria and the United States. He supports various animal welfare organizations. Together with his wife, Nelly Baumann,[19] he is an honorary ambassador for the Jane Goodall Institute.[20]
Exhibitions and work
His photographs have been published in various photography magazines such as Fotomagazin[21], Photographie[22], Chip Magazin, and Digital Photographer Magazine.
His work also appears regularly in lifestyle and general interest magazines such as: *Forbes*[23], People Magazine, Vogue (French, US, German), GQ, Vanity Fair, InStyle, Maxim, National Geographic, Malibu Magazine, Esquire, Playboy (US, German, French), Penthouse, Stern, Spiegel, Paris Photo, Maxima, Leica Fotomagazin, and others.[24][25]
Exhibitions
2012: Photokina – Cologne (guest appearance with live shoots and 130-meter-long exhibition)[26]
