Masters of Abstraction

Peter Badge began his career as a freelance artist and photographer in 1993, and soon began developing his own independent concepts. Portraiture became Badge’s primary focus, concentrating on prominent personalities from diverse backgrounds ranging from the arts to academia and from science to politics. In 2000, Badge’s partners, the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and its accompanying foundation, commissioned him to embark on quite a substantial project to capture all Nobel Laureates. Funded by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, this long-term project has developed into an ongoing mission that has taken him all over the world and has created some remarkable results.

In 2012, the photographer Peter Badge was commissioned by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, in cooperation with the award-granting institutions to create portraits of all recipients of the Abel Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the ACM Prize in Computing (since 2016), the Fields Medal and the Nevanlinna Prize around the world. "Masters of Abstraction" is the tangible result of years of work, timeless portraits and thousands of miles of travel. Badge’s ability to reveal the people behind the science is evident on every page.

A permanent exhibition of the "Masters of Abstraction" portraits is open to the public at the Mathematics Informatics Station (MAINS) in Heidelberg. Original examples line the walls and a touchscreen portal guides visitors through the catalog.