Thomas Hoepker studied art history and archeology, then worked as a photographer for Münchner Illustrierte and Kristall between 1960 and 1963, reporting from all over the world.
He joined Stern magazine as a photo-reporter in 1964. Hoepker worked as art director for Stern in Hamburg between 1987 and 1989, when he became a full member of Magnum.
Specialising in reportage and stylish colour features, he received the prestigious Kulturpreis of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie in 1968. Among many other awards for his work, he received one in 1999 from the German Ministry of Foreign Aid for Death in a Cornfield, a TV film on Guatemala. Hoepker currently lives in New York.