#2 – September 24
What I've been up to
So this is my first try at actually writing a newsletter so bear with me and please be patient if things might not sound like a writers words but a photographers newsletter. Also I still have to figure out how much information to put in here. Focus on one or two projects in detail per post or just put in more information in less detail. Please let me know what you prefer so I can make this newsletter most interesting to you.
First up I wanted to share a really cool project I got to work on a couple months ago and tell you some behind the scenes information.
Stadt Wien – EU-election campaign
As some of you might have seen on other social media platforms I got the chance to shoot the 2024 European Parliament election campaign for Stadt Wien. The amazing people from OBSCURA asked me if I would want to be part of this project and having worked with them in the past I said yes immediately. The pre-production was a little bit hectic as the timeframe was a little short and the shoot had to be postponed by a week last minute but everything worked out great in the end.
The shoot was a video and stills shoot with me having 15-30 minute time slots in between filming to take some key visuals and shoot some sideshots as well. Only having that short of a time slot means that we had to be very quick setting up our lights, getting to know the subject, getting a feel for what exactly the agency and client was looking for and how we could capture the best images possible. I love a challenge of trying to understand a setting quickly, figuring out what lighting works best to convey a natural feeling and working as a team to make it happen in such a short time.
It was so much fun working with the people from OBSCURA, working as a team, exchanging ideas on what would work best for different layout options and how to tell the story in beautiful images.
I have experienced some still and moving co-productions before but have nothing but amazing feelings about this one. There was a mutual respect for everyone, we got enough time to shoot our pictures without being pushed for every second and with that freedom we managed to be quicker than expected anyway. Everyone was friendly and supportive of each other. That’s what I love about bigger projects like these. Being able to work together with amazing people and creating beautiful work as a team.
The campaign ended up being printed all over Vienna. There aren’t that many cooler feelings than seeing our pictures printed all over the city.
Huge thank you to my amazing assistants Miriam Lottes and Stefan Diesner, both amazing photographers themselves. To the amazing people from OBSCURA Stefan Hundlinger, Philipp Moosbrugger and Julia Jobst. And last but not least the great film crew Daniel Hager (director), Philipp Hafner (DoP) and everyone else involved in making this such a great project to work on.
You can find more about this project on my website.
Podcast
Last month I also had the chance to have some beautiful conversations on my podcast “Gestatten Sie?!”
Some of my highlights were talking to the german photographer Linda Schäffler about her love for the conceptual part of photography, some directing work she did, and how important personal projects are for her to develop her style. We discussed whether photographers need to work with moving images and how photography has shifted from hobby to work.
Another conversation I wanted to share was the one I had with cinematographer Moritz Uthe about his path into the field, his passion for feature films and his move to America. Moritz shared how he envisioned his career early on and his transition into the advertising world. We discussed his approach to finding inspiration in everyday life and his goal to focus more on narrative work.
Things I’ve seen or heard
I don’t only host my own podcast but really enjoy listening to others as well. That’s when I found this inspiring conversation with photographer Jeremy Cowart. It’s so inspiring hearing people talk about creating something unique, how important it is to have conversations about ideas and how to push art further and expand your skills as an artist and just creative person. Definitely a recommendation
pssst. don’t tell
For everyone who got this far, I have a little surprise for you. As some of you might know I love baking pizzas but I’ve never really had a pizza party yet. So I thought it could be a fun thing to host a small evening with up to 4 people. Having a nice evening, talking about creative stuff or whatever else we think is interesting and eating some (hopefully) delicious pizza. If you would like to be part of it, text me on instagram about the pizza party until September 10th and I’m going to randomly select four people to have over some time soon. Oh and you have to subscribe to the newsletter (and live in Vienna) to be selected ;)
That’s it for this months newsletter. Looking forward to hopefully have a fun pizza party with cool people and see you in the next one.
Ulrich