Lindbergh was born in Poland and grew up in Duisburg. He studied painting in art school, but began photography in 1971 and established himself as an advertising photographer. Moving to Paris in 1978, to concentrate on high-fashion, he photographed many top models including Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Isabella Rossellini, Nastassja Kinski and Tatjana Patitz as well as other projects with Karl Lagerfeld, Daryl Hannah, Giorgio Armani and more. His photographs have been published by Stern, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue magazines. He also photographed Céline Dion for her perfume ad. A new upcoming project is an advert video shoot for Mariah Carey’s new fragrance, "M".
He is considered to be one of the world's preeminent fashion photographers, particularly in black and white, and is credited with helping create the supermodel phenomenon of the 1990s. He prefers his model to have minimal make-up and a simple hairstyle. Wim Wenders is an admirer of his work.