Gunārs Binde is a grand master of Latvian photography, born on 27 December, 1933 in Beja, in the district of Alūksne. From 1941 to 1948 he attended Beja’s seven-year (primary) school. In 1957 he graduated as an electrical technician from the Priekuļi Agricultural Technical School.
He began learning photography through self-study in 1957 and his first solo exhibition was unveiled just two years later at the Alūksne Local History and Art Museum. In 1964 he became a member of the Riga Photo Club.
From 1957 to 1959 Binde worked as the head of the power station at the Gaišais ceļš collective farm. From 1959 to 1963 he worked as a lighting technician at the Valmiera Theatre, as well as at the State Youth Theatre of the Latvian SSR in Riga. From 1964 to 1975 he worked as a photography teacher at the Riga School of Applied Arts. From 1977 to 1994 worked as a photographer at the History Museum of Dole Island. From 1994 to 2009 worked as a photography specialist at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia.
In 1965 he received a gold medal at the 29th International Salon of Photographic Art (XXIX Salón Internacional de Arte Fotográfico) in Buenos Aires, Argentina for his portrait of Latvian theatre luminary Eduards Smiļģis. In 1967, he was awarded the Grand Prix at the 25th Prince Albert I International Salon (XXVe salon international Albert 1er) in Charleroi, Belgium, for his photograph Nude. These works, as well as his work from 1964, The Wall, have won a total of 32 awards in various countries. Other Binde’s works have received more than 25 international awards.
Starting from 1959 Binde has participated in more than 200 solo and group exhibitions in Latvia and across the globe, gaining considerable international recognition. Since 1964 he has been an honorary member of the national photographic associations of eleven countries. Binde was one of the first Latvian photographers to be awarded the Artiste FIAP (1975) and Excellence FIAP (1988) titles by the International Federation of Photographic Arts (FIAP).
In 1991 Binde received the Mārtiņš Buclers Award, named after the founder of Latvian photographic art. In 2009 he received the highest Latvian state award, the Order of the Three Stars, for his outstanding contribution to Latvian photography and for bringing attention to the name of Latvia globally. In 2023, at the initiative of the President Edgars Rinkēvičs, he received a Commendation for Lifetime Contribution to Latvia.
Binde’s works are held at the Latvian National Museum of Art and the Latvian Museum of Photography, the Department of Prints and Photography of the National Library of France at the French National Library, the Auer Foundation for Photography, as well as private collections in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Germany, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, the USA, Japan and elsewhere.
Gunārs Binde lives in Langstiņi, Ropaži district, with his wife Tatjana and their cat Pincīte, and is still actively taking photographs, creating exhibitions and taking care of his archive.