Born in Essen, Germany on May 12th of 1937. US citizen.
Dr. Gerhart Niemeyer came to the United States in 1937 fleeing the tyranny of Nazi Germany. Dr. Niemeyer taught at Princeton, Oglethorpe, Yale, Columbia and finally at the University of Notre Dame, where he ended his career as a distinguished Political Scientist. From this academic background, Lucian Niemeyer, the second of five children, was educated at Indiana University, University of Notre Dame and graduated from the Famous Photographers School in Westport, Ct. From 1963 through 1982, he was connected with Volkswagen, first rising to the position of National Sales Manager of Volkswagen of America, then purchasing a VW dealership with his brother-in-law in Philadelphia. In 1982 he closed the dealership and sold its assets. From 1982 to 1987 he was involved with several businesses in the photographic field, in which he had a long standing interest, since his father had given him his first camera in 1955, a Leica. In early 1987, his wife Joan suggested that Lucian go into his avocation of creating images, full-time. Together they combed the Chesapeake Bay area in pursuit of creating the well-known Chesapeake Country, Abbeville Press 1990, with a text by Eugene Meyer. The success of the book prompted two new studies resulting in books, Long Legged Wading Birds of the North American Wetlands, Stackpole Books 1993, with a text by Dr. Mark Riegner, and Old Order Amish, Johns Hopkins University Press 1993, with a text by Dr. Donald Kraybill. Both are considered by critics as corner post studies in their areas of influence. In 1994, Shenandoah, Daughter of the Stars, LSU Press, with a text by Julia Davis came into the market, followed by Mr. Niemeyer's second wetland study in 1996, Where Water Meets Land, York Graphics. Okefenokee published by The University of Mississippi Press 2002 with a text by George Folkerts, The Schooner Sultana, with a text by John McMullen, a book of the re-creation of a 1768 schooner published by the Cornell Maritime Press, 2002 and Maine, A Portrait, DownEast Books published in 2006. New Mexico with a text by Art Gomez and Desert Wetlands with a text by Tom Fleischner were published by the University of New Mexico Press are also in 2004 and 2005. Africa, The Holocausts of Rwanda and Sudan was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2006. The book has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. In 2006 all four Africa story exhibits were shown in the prestigious Maxwell Museum at the University of New Mexico. Images of a Vanished Era, Images by Walter C. Schneider 1898-1924 University of Missouri 2007, is a study taken from a body of over 1200 glass negatives taken at the turn of the 1900s. The black and white images are wonderful art and a look at 20th century life in middle America. Darfur, University of New Mexico in 2009 is the second major book on Africa's holocausts. West Virginia, Mountain Air, (Schiffer Publishing, Sept 2010) Bali, God Rice and Art and The Art in Flowers by Lucian Niemeyer (Schiffer Publishing, Nov 2010) are in the publishing phase. Another of Lucian's works is a portfolio, An African Perspective created in 1980. He has collections of exhibits at Elizabethtown College (Old Order Amish) and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania (Old Order Amish), as well as many private collections. His works are offered as fine art at his gallery and at many one man shows and festivals. Some years ago he took best-of-show at Easton's prestigious Wildfowl Festival with his state-of-the-art printing medium, the time consuming and rare pigment transfer process. His work has been featured in many magazine articles, books, calendars and other works worldwide. His lectures have been heard by the National Audubon Society in national and regional meetings, VISCOMM, as well as the Leica Historical Society and the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. His latest lectures on Genocide have been heard by AFRECS, Dearborn High Schools, St Johns College, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and the University of New Mexico among many others. In 2010 he was made an honorary citizen of Calagary and given a white hat. A prior hat was given to the Dalai Lama. He is considered a Leica photographer and recently has made the change from film to digital.
He lives with his wife Joan and his parrot, Pepe' in Santa Fe where they are visited by their five children while working on a new study of Native Americans. Mr. Niemeyer's books start with a passion, then an idea, followed by a plan , then research and finally a field study, leading to two full years of dedicated on-site work. From beginning to end each book has a gestation of 3 1/2 to six years. Each work must undergo intense study by experts prior to being published.
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Last updated: February 20, 2010.