Biography
by the AMZ collective
Andoz Krishnadas is an Indian-German visual artist based between Frankfurt am Main, Bielsko-Biała and Chennai. Having traveled and worked in 83 countries his work is deeply rooted in diversity and is linked to the microcosm of collective human memory. He is visually influenced by abroad range of political, scientific, cultural, religious and philosophical allusions from the Bhagavad-Gita & the Upanishads, the Old & New Testaments, the epics of Gilgamesh, the poems of Jalal al-Din Rumi, Norse, Greek & Egyptian mythology and the secret histories migrations and fables from Cartage to the Mongolian steppes.
Born in the late 80s, his childhood was influenced greatly by the fall of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany and the liberalization of the Indian Economy and grew up amidst the contagious optimism of the 90s and the early 00s.
2004 would bring the Indian Ocean Tsunami and with it an awareness to the disastrous effects of climate change. Choosing however to live by Gandini’s Maxim to be the change one wishes to see in the world, Andoz Krishnadas took up architecture with a focus on sustainability at HCE Anna University, Chennai, India and would receive his B. Arch with honors in 2012.
During his tenure at the university, he would facilitate the design and construction of sustainable tsunami Relief shelters in India and the Philippines a model, he would replicate in 2010-11 while working with the UN to rebuild communities in Sri Lanka, displaced by the Civil war.
He would later work in Turin, Italy and Cannes, France before pursuing his master’s at Städelschule (Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule), Frankfurt Germany. It was during his studies in 2014 at the Städelschule that an image he took of his collective architectural project would win the Frankfurter Neue Presse Luminale Photo prize and begin the merging of his two arts.
After acquiring his MA. Arch from the Städelschule in 2015, he has since gone on to work with prominent brands and publications as well as win numerous awards in both photography and architecture including the prestigious Sonder Prize from the Akademie der Künste, Berlin in 2021 as well as the coveted IPA West-German Commercial photographer of the year 2021 award. As of 2022 he is ranked amongst the best photographers in Frankfurt.
He is currently building a school for victims of FGM with Forward for Women e.V. in Podor, Senegal while simultaneously building a photographic series with the survivors as central protagonists.
Message from the Artist
After almost 2 decades of work as a visual artist I’ve concluded that every person is an artist.
If you don’t consider your work “art” or whether you live from your art or not, it is an ineluctable fact that you have access to experiences, passions, stories and proficiencies that no one else can understand or formulate quite the way you do.
This realization and understanding of the uniqueness of each person’s human experience is my main motivation to work with people and brands. My subject/client’s passion, experience and insight give me access to a world of understanding I normally would not have been aware of.
Many times, behind the camera or computer, I feel my duty is simply giving a visual voice to my subject’s ideas, dreams or vision, whether they be musicians, architects, accountants, investigators, bankers, business-owners, politicians, sex-workers, engineers, framers, lawyers or even buildings. Every person has added to my visual vocabulary and understanding .
I consider it the biggest asset I bring to each shoot, an extensive visual vocabulary, naïve optimism and a yearning to learn and reveal your story or vision through creative collaboration. My goal is that the images we create are treasured for decades to come.
