At the age of 18 Gerhard Steidl founded his own publishing house and began working as a printer and book designer for artists including Joseph Beuys, A. R. Penck, Klaus Staeck and Günter Grass. From the very beginning his concept was to invite the artists to hin workshop in Göttingen to collaboratively create books with them. Today Steidl has the largest program of books on contemporary photography and an ambitious German literature list.