45 years ago, on the 28th of February 1981, in a field near Brokdorf, Schleswig-Holstein: Around 100,000 people gathered to demonstrate against the construction of a nuclear power plant — the largest demonstration the Federal Republic had ever seen. More than 10,000 police officers stood opposite them.

In the midst of it all were four photographers from Cologne: Günter Beer, Jürgen Bindrim, Manfred Linke, and Günay Ulutunçok. They looked at the helicopters, the water cannons, the faces, the conflict.

Back home in Cologne, the idea emerged: we can achieve more if we combine our skills. What began on this field near Brokdorf is more than a protest. It is the beginning of the laif agency.

The small office has grown into an independent agency, most recently thanks to the laif cooperative — with more than 370 members who work together to ensure that we are accountable to no one but ourselves.

Today, the laif agency represents over 400 documentary photographers and photojournalists from all over the world. The archive contains more than 20 million images—including approximately 1.4 million images from The New York Times alone. laif benefits from the high quality of its photographers. They are booked for editorial and corporate shoots by major media companies and international brands.

Have we done everything right in the past 45 years?

Certainly not. But we have kept a close eye on things.
And that will not stop now.

What remains is the conviction that quality and honest images make a difference. At a time when AI-generated images are flooding the internet and disinformation travels faster than the truth, this is not a matter of course — it is a decision (and a lot of work).

Together with the laif foundation, we are committed to freedom of expression and freedom of the press because we believe that democracy needs honest images, different perspectives, and genuine diversity.

Thank you to everyone who is joining us on this journey — as a customer, partner, photographer, or simply as someone who values good visual communication.

We look forward to further encounters and to what lies ahead.