Thomas Hoepker studied art history and archaeology, then worked as a photographer for Münchner Illustrierte and Kristall between 1960 and 1963, reporting from all over the world. He joined Stern magazine as a photo reporter in 1964.
Magnum began to distribute Hoepker’s archive photographs in 1964. He worked as cameraman and producer of documentary films for German television in 1972, and from 1974 collaborated with his wife, the journalist Eva Windmoeller, first in East Germany. The couple moved to New York in 1976 to work as correspondents for Stern. Hoepker worked as art director for Stern in Hamburg between 1987 and 1989, when he became a full member of Magnum. Specializing in reportage and stylish color features, he received the prestigious Kulturpreis of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie in 1968. Among many other awards for his work, he received a prize in 1999 from the German Ministry of Foreign Aid for “Death in a Cornfield”, a TV film on Guatemala. He was president of Magnum Photos from 2003 to 2006. A retrospective exhibition, showing 230 images from fifty years of work, toured Germany and other parts of Europe in 2007.
Thomas Hoepker had several opportunities to spend time with Muhammad Ali – in 1960 when he won the a gold medal at the Rome Olympics, in 1966 when he was already world heavyweight champion, in 1970 when he restarted his career, after several years of a forced absence from the ring, and was preparing himself for the “Fight of the Century” against Joe Frazier and once again, years later, when he was already weakened by Parkinson’s disease. Many of Thomas Hoepker’s Muhammad Ali pictures have gone around the world and have become photographic icons. They have been shown in many museums and are sought after by collectors.