Peter Knapp, born on June 5, 1931 in Bäretswil, is a Swiss German photographer, graphic designer, painter, filmmaker, and videographer. His first photographs date back to 1945. From 1947 to 1950, he studied at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich. He initially pursued painting and joined the workshops of Monticelli and Otto Bachmann. In 1951, he moved to Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he befriended César and Pierre Dmitrienko, friendships that would last a lifetime. He then worked as a graphic designer in Paul Marquet's studio, where he redesigned the logos for La NRF and Gallimard.

As Artistic Director for Nouveau Fémina and Galeries Lafayette, he collaborated with Jean Widmer, Pierre Pothier, and Slavik. In 1954, Slavik joined the Publicis agency, and with Peter Knapp’s help, they created the innovative decoration for the Drugstore on the Champs-Élysées. Peter Knapp caught the attention of Hélène Lazareff, who was overseeing the visual identity of Nouveau Fémina. Between 1955 and 1959, he served as Artistic Director for Galeries Lafayette, where he led the design of posters and advertisements, working alongside Jean Widmer (graphic designer), Slavik (designer), and William Klein (photographer).

From 1959 to 1966, Peter Knapp served as the artistic director of Elle magazine, which he modernized by embracing the democratization of fashion and its new visual language. He built an international reputation for his fashion photography and layouts. Renowned photographers such as Robert Frank, Sarah Moon, Frank Horvat, and Jeanloup Sieff worked alongside him, and he played a pivotal role in launching Paolo Roversi’s Parisian career in the early 1970s. He also collaborated with artists such as Jean- Michel Folon, Roland Topor, and Roman Cieslewicz...

In 1960, he traveled to New York, where he met Robert Rauschenberg and Barnett Newman, who encouraged him to paint on a larger scale. Knapp also embarked on trips to Asia and produced reports from around the world. Between 1965 and 1968, he directed and created the visuals for around 40 episodes of the television series Dim, Dam, Dom. From 1966, he abandoned painting to focus on photography and diversified his activities, working as a theater set designer for plays by Max Frisch and Eugène Ionesco. 

In 1967, he collaborated with Oliviero Toscani to establish Vogue in Italy.

In 1969, Peter Knapp was awarded the first Nikon International Prize. From 1974 to 1977, he returned to lead Elle magazine, collaborating with Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana on surrealist-themed photo series. He also worked with numerous magazines and journals, including Stern, Sunday Times, Vogue, Fortune, Histoire, and La Recherche.

In 1981, his interest in contemporary art led him to design the layout for a collection of books titled Contemporains, published by the Centre Pompidou. Peter Knapp maintained several studios in Paris over the years, including ones at Passage Choiseul, Studio Moulin-Rouge, and Rue de Bruxelles.

He frequently traveled between Paris and Switzerland, where he lived in Klosters. Alongside his artistic work, he was involved in education: he taught at ESAG (formerly the Académie Julian) from 1983 to 1994 and was a lecturer at Sciences Po. 

In 1989, he received the Best Art Book Award for Lumières de Chartres, illustrated with photographs by Eustachy Kossakowski, and again in 1991 for the book Giacometti, illustrated with his own photographs. In 2001, he created seven portraits of graphic designers for the International Graphic Alliance Congress at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

In 2003, he directed Ces appareils qui nous ont vus, a series of three films on the history of photography for TV5, and in 2006, he made the documentary film Van Gogh: The Last Days in Antwerp.

Knapp’s passion for contemporary art also led him, in 1981, to oversee the layout of Contemporains, a book series published by the Centre Georges Pompidou. Throughout his career, he worked out of several Paris studios and maintained a home in Klosters, Switzerland, regularly traveling between the two.