Biography: Xandi Kreuzeder
Biography Xandi Kreuzeder
Xandi Kreuzeder is a free-lancing photographer working in the fields of extreme sports, sports fashion and outdoor. He was born in 1962 in Munich, Germany, as the son of carpenter Franz Kreuzeder and his mother Ingrid. Together with his younger sister Ilonka, he grew up at the edge of Munich.
Early already, Xandi developed a strong urge for top-class athletic performances. Five years old, he won the South German City Championship in skiing and was accepted as the youngest member of ski club TSV Ottobrunn. This was not only the beginning of his skiing career that brought him to the German youth B team but also the beginning of his love of the mountains and nature.
But soon, the ski world was not enough anymore and he aimed to go further. At Lake Garda, Xandi learnt windsurfing and shaping boards. From here, he got into the professional windsurfing business. Sponsored by BIC, he sailed among the top 20 windsurfers in the world.
His ten years as a windsurfing professional lead Xandi around the globe and linked him to many friends and industry contacts all over the world. Working in a small workshop at Lake Garda, he used his craftsmanship to develop the newest board designs for several windsurf companies.
In demand as a sports action model himself, Xandi developed more and more interest for the other side of the camera. Blessed with a special feeling for the right timing and the perfect perspective due to his athletic all-round talent, it was easy for Xandi to get into sports photography. During a break caused by a sports injury, he decided to visit a photography school and then begin freelancing as a photographer.
Today, Xandi is a successful photographer with an open eye for the beautiful as well as the abstract things of nature and who is able to communicate the attitude of freedom. His pictures are truly authentic as he always tries to be as near as possible to the athletes when he is working – at rocks, on the water, on ice and everywhere else where it is necessary to create a real image of something that the observer wouldn’t notice otherwise.
On his ongoing quest for the new, his travels have lead Xandi to even the remotest spots of Planet Earth. At the same time, he discovered his passion for bizarre kinds of art and started to build sculptures of recycled materials himself.
Not accepting any limits to his creativity, ten years ago the idea occured to realize creative projects together with his artist-friends. With Portuguese artist Joao Parrinha, the first exhibition took place in Munich in 1995. Since then, further exhibition projects followed continuously.
Never neglecting photography, Xandi’s aim is to unite sports, aesthetics and art. At the moment, Xandi is working on his exhibition series ‘Skeleton Sea’ that will be presented at ISPO – Messe Munich for the first time in January 2008.
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