Full Biography
Michael Somoroff was born in New York City in 1957. His father, Ben Somoroff, was a celebrated commercial photographer. Michael Somoroff studied art and photography at the New School for Social Research in New York City and opened his own studio in the 1970’s, eventually moving to Europe where he settled in Paris and then in Hamburg.Shortly after his arrival in Europe, he became a noted photographer in his own right, where he was a regular contributor to such major publications on both sides of the Atlantic as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Life . Mr. Somoroff’s portraiture, nudes, and still-lifes have captured a wide audience around the world.
He is a respected film director and senior partner at Macguffin Films Ltd., one of the most accomplished commercial production company in the world. He has been an active member of The Director’s Guild of America for almost 20 years.
Since returning to New York City at the end of the 1980’s, Mr. Somoroff has thoroughly devoted himself to the research of his ideas and his artistic production. His project of social reform through the promotion of art is the corner stone of his activities. He regularly lectures and collaborates with corporations, and cultural institutions to create programs that use art as a way of improving communication between people and the conditions they live in.
Mr. Somoroff understands art to be a spiritual practice capable of progressing self-realization and community two ideas he is strongly dedicated to. His mediums of choice include, photography, installation, filmmaking, writing, and a variety of “new media” technologies. He is represented in many important collections, a sampling of which include the Museum of Modern Art; New York (AICP) , The Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas; and The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. His work has been included in museum exhibitions around the world, including ICP The International Center for Photography, New York City; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago; The Frankfurt Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany; and “The Great Color Exhibition” of 1986, curated by Manfred Heiting in Koln, Germany. He has participated in gallery exhibitions in New York and abroad, including the major international art fairs. He is the creator of the Matrix Art Collective, a full service art production facility in the New York City metropolitan area.