Hg. Stiftung F.C.Gundlach, STEIDL, 2026
Introduction: Sophia Greiff, Beate Lakotta, Sebastian Lux, Franziska Mecklenburg
Essay: Steffen Siegel
with texts by Walter Schels

16° PISCES. Photographs 1958-2026 takes an in-depth look at the multifaceted work of Walter Schels. People, animals, plants – all become equals in front of his camera. At the same time his approaches range from documentary to experimental transformation. For him an image is never finished; he reworks, solarises, or paints over them. Transformation and chance emerge as the basis for his photographic vision, and Schels, born 1936 in Landshut, as a maverick charting a liminal space in photographic art.

280 pages, 310 images

Hardback, 24 x 29 cm

Walter Schels, a passionate portraitist and photographic researcher of the human physiognomy, photographs animals as great portraitists photograph people: with sincerity and a deep desire to capture the very essence of those portrayed. With a preface by the biologist and animal psychologist Dennis C. Turner
English
Edition Stemmle, Zürich/New York 2001

Modular Work Catalog
Vol. 14
Few experiences are likely to affect us as profoundly as an encounter with death. Yet most deaths occur almost covertly, at one remove from our everyday lives. Death and dying are arguably our last taboos – the topics our society finds most difficult. We certainly fear them more than our ancestors did. Opportunities to learn more about them are rare indeed.The photographer Walter Schels and the journalist Beate Lakotta spent over a year in hospices in northern Germany. They made portraits of 26 peoloe who were very close to death. All of them agreed to be photographed shortly before and after death. The project articulates the experiences, hopes and fears of the dying, and gives them one more opportunity to be heard.
With texts by Beate Lakotta
English
Fotografenverlag

Modular Work Catalog
Vol. 11
For several years, photographer Walter Schels and journalist Beate Lakotta accompanied young people who perceive themselves as girls but were born in a boy's body and vice versa. Schels' portraits make the difficult process of becoming one with oneself visible. In interviews, the trans girls and boys talk about self-rejection and self-discovery, solidarity and exclusion, friendship and bullying, experiences with parents, siblings and first love.
German/English
Fotografenverlag

Modular Work Catalog
Vol. 08
"Withering flowers achieve their own beauty and independence, because they have a life behind them - unlike all the uniformly fresh blooming tulips, roses, sunflowers. I photographed my series of old flowers from 2010-2016, partly with old Agfa, Kodak and Perutz films from the 40s to 60s. And I am an old photographer with old cameras." Seen in this light, the series shows a tribute to old age." 
With a text by Walter Schels
German/English
Fotografenverlag

Walter Schels has always been fascinated by hands. When he portrayed personalities from politics, culture and the intellectual world, he also photographed the palms of their hands. The result is fascinating and haunting black-and-white portraits of unusual closeness and directness. His pictures are complemented by texts by journalist Beate Lakotta; in her essay, she describes the insights into human beings that sciences such as evolutionary biology, genetics and anthropology draw from the shape of their hands. With photographs of Angela Merkel, Helmut Schmidt, Yehudi Menuhin and the Dalai Lama, among others.
With texts by Beate Lakotta and Walter Schels
German
S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt, 2016