Hannes Schmid

Hannes Schmid, born in 1946 in Zurich, Switzerland, is a distinguished artist celebrated for his transformative contributions to photography and painting. Initially trained as an electrician, his artistic journey began in the 1970s during a work trip to South Africa, where he taught himself photography, capturing evocative landscapes and portraits. His career gained prominence with the iconic Marlboro Man campaign (1992–2002), where his striking images of cowboys in vast landscapes helped define the brand as a symbol of American masculinity. These photographs were later appropriated by Richard Prince for his "Cowboys" series in the early 1980s, prompting Schmid to reappropriate his work in the late 1990s through large-scale hyperrealistic oil paintings, reclaiming his creative vision from both Prince and Philip Morris.