Christa Klubert

Julia Fullerton-Batten: First Woman to shoot Campari Calendar

Shooting the 16th edition of the globally renowned Campari Calendar is Julia Fullerton-Batten who is the first ever woman to get behind the lens on the Calendar project. Campari has been producing calendars for 15 years now, featuring actresses like Selma Hyeck and Uma Thurman. So many of the calendars from past years have celebrated the female form, so it’s only natural Campari would tap Julia Fullerton-Batten to take the reigns. The classic Campari cocktail, the Negroni, is shaken not stirred. Appropriate for Bond Girl Eva Green, who will be sipping the iconic cocktail for upcoming year 2015. The stunning French born actress will take the lead role in this iconic Calendar, entitled ‘Mythology Mixology’, which is dedicated to celebrating Campari’s colourful history and the intrinsic stories linked to twelve of its best-loved classic cocktails. Julia Fullerton-Batten talks about the creative test the theme offered, saying, “Campari has always had an inherent ability to recreate itself and keep the brand image fresh, inspiring and imaginative - a goal I constantly strive towards in my own work too. This year’s theme was an interesting challenge, as there was an important job to do in terms of taking historical anecdotes and invigorating them with a modern edge. I’m confident we managed to strike that delicate balance with this year’s imagery.” But after shooting thirteen totally different looks in celebration of Campari’s heritage, it looks like they nailed it. To get everyone pumped up for the release Campari and Julia have given us some glimpses behind the scenes. Although none of the images they showed us are final images from the project, we do get to see some of the gowns, and styling treatments from the shoot. We can’t wait for the Calender to finally be revealed in November!

Oliver Mark: A Look Behind the Scenes

People like Oliver Mark insure that we don’t drown in boredom. Towards this end, he rushes with his camera through our lives, often far too conformist, finding things that are pleasurable, beautiful, sometimes obscene, and turning them into pictures that take our breath away. It’s impossible to look away, even if you try. He deserves gratitude for providing insights into a world that so often seems dull and orderly from the outside. Because although order is vital, it’s not everything.

Johannes Knuth: On the road in yankees doodle country

At heart, Johannes Knuth is a storyteller, both in stills and moving image. His work embraces the vibrancy and multi-faceted emotions of dreams, hopes and adventures that are the fabric of life and which make it worth living in the most uplifting sense. In this wonderfully casual and refreshing series out in the country bumpkin land of yankee-doodle-whatsit, we get to hang out with a veeery laid back family by their caravan, soaking up the sun on a carefree summer’s day. Johannes takes us on country roads to glistening lakes and shares special heart-felt moments with us, weaving us into the storylines, as if it becomes part of our own memory of experiences. Ah yes, almost forgot it was a shoot - Johannes makes it all look so easy! With some chilled out country music and a vintage Chevrolet as gorgeous as that, what else is there to want in life..?! He also produced a atmospheric film you can watch HERE

Tillmann Franzen: Gets the photo right in every detail for DNV GL

What do a Norwegian ad agency, DNV GL, and Tillmann Franzen have in common? No idea? Never mind, because at the beginning of this text, you just don’t have the overall picture yet, just like the three players mentioned above. All three pursue a goal: to get the picture right in every detail, all in their own way, and the end result has to be perfect. The result of this effort is an image campaign that skillfully and wittily captures DNV GL’s core concept: to show people and their special efforts in their work environment. For that, Tillmann Franzen traveled to Denmark, Hamburg, India and Shanghai catching motifs in large formats that with minimalistic elegance manage to visualize the various areas where DNV GL is active. Add the ad people’s idea of removing a fragment from each picture and assigning it to individual people visualizes the idea of the entire campaign perfectly — and thus we know the answer to the question posed above. Tillmann Franzen’s photographs are a beautiful contribution to this campaign.

Julia Fullerton-Batten: Shoots paper blossom trees and girls for her new Series Korea

Julia was born in Germany to English/German parents, and grew up in Germany and the US, before moving to the UK. With her inquisitive eye, she often poses questions of identity and cultural heritage. In this series entitled “Korea”, Julia street cast and photographed young Korean women wearing the nations’ traditional dress called “Hanbok”, a centuries old attire striking for its deeply saturated colours and simple broad cut. Shot in the middle of the monsoon season in between bouts of torrential downpour, Julia explores the dynamic tensions that arise when traditional customs are symbolically contrasted with the harsh and rigid environment of Seoul. Laden with cultural meaning this huge discrepancy between tradition and modernity still escapes all aspects of reality trapping us in a misty twilight dreamscape, where little Korean cupcake ladies dance against the wind and arrange giant paper blossoms on lonely city trees.

Bo Hylén: Shoots the "loco motivus" for Siemens

Loco motivus is not, as one might be tempted to think, bad Spanish for crazy motifs, but rather modern Latin for moving from a place, i.e., the locomotive. It is precisely these huge steel monsters that used to fascinate little boys so much, and pull endlessly long freight trains. Today, such machines are almost obsolete, and companies like Siemens try to create trains that are elegant, graceful, sleek. Bo Hylén had the opportunity to stage the experience of traveling on such trains for Siemens, to make this experience available to the viewer both emotionally and visually. The result was a CGI series that was partly shot with a camera in London, Munich, and Berlin, and partly digitally constructed or processed on the computer. Bo Hylén manages to catch the various moods and situations of the travelers, integrating them harmoniously into Siemens’ overall concept of traveling and outstanding service.

Denis Ignatov: Leerraum – when inner emptiness fills empty spaces

Lately, Denis Ignatov has been fascinated by the spaces we live in and the voids we leave behind, as well as the void that can manifest within us. His current exhibition in Düsseldorf, his native hometown, is titled “Leerraum – wenn innere Leere Räume füllt” loosely translated this means “empty space – when inner void fills rooms”. Ignatov, who has a curiosity for the curious, went about dressing up empty, non-descript rooms and even corridor spaces, to such a degree that look and feel as though they have been there for decades. The personas he portrays amidst these deeply intense and characteristic sets, although fictitious are highly believable and have become so alive you can no longer imagine the space without them. Indeed it’s as if they can’t exist without the 4 walls around them, which they have filled with all these expressions of their personality, as if they have externalised every single aspect of themselves into a materialistic extension of their character and being. Is this clutter on the outside a symptom of some kind of void on the inside? Go see for yourselves.

Oliver Mark: Welcome in - Oliver Mark!

When photographers assemble their portfolio, they start to doubt, hesitate, and negotiate. That wasn’t any different with Oliver Mark. In contrast to many other creative people, however, who turn out to be half-crazy divas when you try to work with them, Oliver Mark remained firmly grounded during our cooperation: polite, calm, unpretentious, and extremely open-minded. Let’s be honest: everybody working in advertising, every journalist, writer, art director, illustrator, or director—and thus also Oliver Mark—is a mixture of whore, artist, and craftsman. We do it for money. We research, doubt, discard. And we love our work. And we like to talk about it when somebody asks. That’s what we did with Oliver Mark. In order to understand him, we took his work apart. And we talked to him about money, art, and photography. What did we find? A creative spirit. An intelligent and witty conversationalist. And a photographer who always looks for the best picture, regardless of whether he photographs a dog, cat, a mausoleum in Potsdam, or a movie star. A picture that exudes truth, and warmth. Portrait photography is an exchange: trust for trust. To take pictures like the ones Oliver Mark takes, you have to be able to open up—especially if you yourself disappear behind a big camera. Otherwise, the people in front of the camera won’t open up either. But Oliver Mark also masters the other, the tough side of the business. That has to do with light, set-ups, experience, props, and planning. Only that mixture ensures that the resulting picture turns out as planned, and is at the same time new, never before seen, truthful. Oliver Mark beherrscht aber auch die andere, die harte Seite des Geschäfts. Sie hat mit Licht, Aufbau, Erfahrung, Props und Planung zu tun. Erst aus dieser Mischung entsteht die Sicherheit, dass am Ende ein Bild entsteht, das so ist wie geplant und gleichzeitig neu, ungesehen, wahrhaftig Ralf Grauel - Strategic Publishing

David Maurer: Portraying everyday Heros for Iveco Magirus

Whatever the weather, come rain, come storm, Iveco Magirus is there to the rescue. The company has been around for 150 years and with many inventions of groundbreaking technologies in the industry, it is no surprise that they are one of the most successful manufacturers of firefighting trucks and rescue vehicles in the world today. To show off their big toys, Iveco Magirus were keen to put David Maurer’s technical skills to the test. Whilst these images are highly skilled in their execution, with the help of unusual angles and high contrast, David also conveys a strong sense of reliability and bravery that each one of these trucks and their fire fighters will inevitably become involved in.

Johannes Knuth: Banning life on Celluloid for Sijox

Do you wanna know how happy people with a sense for safety look like? Then take a look at this new commercials Johannes Knuth shot for his client Sijox, a German insurance brand under Signal Iduna. Once again he's able to give us this feeling of effortless living and working, all while doing an absolute professional production. Thank you very much Johannes, just keep bringing it on! By the way. This movie was chosen to be presented in The Reel Hour 2013 as on of the 10 best entries. Steffen Gentis (Chief Production Officer BBDO Germany) praised Johannes as a new talent you definetly should keep an eye on.

Lutz Hilgers: Jet-setting with Villeroy & Boch's Affinity hotel dinner wear

Considering we’re talking about Villeroy & Boch, here’s something a little different. Instead of your usual stylised dinnerware still life in an appropriately decorated setting, this smart new print campaign shot by Lutz Hilgers makes for a clever, tongue in cheek alternative to the otherwise predictable world of crockery. V&B are convinced that their newly designed hospitality range will have such an “Affinity” with the jet-setting hotel hopping crowd, that it will be just that little bit TOO tempting for them not to resist… Leave the doggy bag behind, let’s just have the serving plate in stead!

Johann Bisesti: Ultraportraits - Seeking aesthetic truth

Johann Bisesti went on a mission to photograph more than 70 models in his pursuit of aesthetic truths. These “Ultra Portraits” are all taken au naturale: no make-up, no post production, just pure honest portraiture. Most of these faces, are unusually striking, yet not necessarily conventionally beautiful. You might even spot the notion of a dark panther or some wide eyed forest creature lurking behind them. There seems to be an underlying shift in our perception of beauty, at least according to the latest model recruits and especially if you compare it to the models that were cast 15-20 years ago (Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Marcus Schenkenberg…). Would they really still interest us today? Are we so sick and tired of seeing and evaluating perfection that we are finally beginning to appreciate the imperfect, slightly flawed and imbalanced? On his journey into facial proportions Bisesti shows us how very compelling such unique characteristic features can be. Gone are the days where we worship perfection. We now find beauty in deeper levels.

Hall of Fame: Blue Diamond Award for Dean West

Hall of Fame: New York Festivals Award for David Maurer

Hall of Fame: The American Photography Award for Johannes Knuth

Hall of Fame: Recent Awards for our Artists

The fight for an awards panel’s approval is even harder than the fight for the public’s attention. Which is why we are particularly pleased that our photographers have already managed to win over so many eyes this year. For example at the New York Festivals, American Photography Award, Blue Diamond Photo Award. Congratulations!

Johannes Knuth: Joyful Lifestyle Shooting for Sijox

When the team behind the Hamburg based digital branding and communications agency Delasocial and the art buyer Ellen Kleinbölting were looking for a vibrant and energetic young photographer who loves nothing more than to capture the dynamics of the moment, it was soon very obvious, that Johannes Knuth was their man. The client being Sijox, a German insurance brand under Signal Iduna aimed at young professionals, gave Johannes the freedom to develop the visual language and style in collaboration with good creatives. What a lovely trusting client that is. And those values of trust and freedom are what also shine through the series that Johannes ended up shooting for them. See the complete series "here":http://christaklubert.com/portfolio/johannes-knuth/vita-jk

David Maurer: SKODA Superb Campaign Shooting in Lisbon

When there's a shiny new car in town, you need a shiny new campaign to go with it. Leagas Delaney's Hamburg team were asked to develop the print campaign that corresponds with the TV ad for the new Skoda Superb. And what a Superb looking Skoda it is! David Maurer, who has shot many recent Skoda campaigns, has yet again not just met the brief but exceeded our expectations. Whilst lending a very natural daylight feel combined with a warm summery glow to the look of the shoot, David's lighting techniques and post-production skills have given the Skoda Superb that extra sparkle. Not only does the Superb now turn heads of pretty ladies on zebra crossings, but also of fluffy highland sheep - should you ever want to impress one with your shiny Skoda…

Nick Ballon: Bolivian Bowler Hats film and series for Port Magazine

British photographer and director Nick Ballon has been revisiting Bolivia many times over the years, in an ongoing personal and artistic endeavor to explore and document the idiosyncrasies of a culture that is integral to his national heritage. In this series shot for Port magazine, Nick follows the stories and characters behind the chola hat, a traditional headdress particular to the Bolivian chola and cholita women, for whom the hat has become part of their unique expression of their identity laced in tradition. In his serenely concise portraits, these women skillfully and proudly balance this descendant of the British bowler hat atop their heads, like a finishing, crowning glory to their traditional dress, almost rendering themselves into sculptural totems of their own niche culture. "Here":http://christaklubert.com/portfolio/videos/nick-ballon-sombrero-de-la-pace-a you can view this wonderfully considered moving image directed by Nick during his visit to the Sombreros Sucre hat factory in La Paz. . Amidst the carefully composed crops of old Victorian, spinning industrial wheels, felt presses, plumes of steam and weightless clouds of fluff in dusty sunlight, we gain a priceless glimpse into the world of well kept secrets in traditional hatmaking that demands human skill and patience and a love for felt that is passed on from generation to generation. We can only hope that Nick Ballon continues to visually educate us with his cultural snippets from his fascinating and richly sensitive distant country.

Sander Foederer: Playtime for Metro Cash & Carry Moscow

Yes, there is someone in the world who's job it is to buy cuddly toys en masse. And why not turn it into a little game while you're at it, and see how many you can get into one big arm full. The cuddlier and the bigger, the better! Hey, is this work or is this playtime? Looks like pretty much everyone shopping at Moscow's Metro Cash & Carry is having an awesome time between the aisles. Sander Foederer visited the Moscow branch of this international wholesale brand to spend a day in the lives of people who shop at Metro and see how it enables them to carry out their professions and keep everything running smoothly at work - from the nursery that needs fresh produce for their kitchen to the local mini-mart. Real reportage of real people is what tells these stories best, and Sander knows just how to bring that across.

Quicker, nicer, better

Welcome to our freshest website. We redesigned it so that you can quickly get to some of the nicest imagery, created by some of the bestest photographers of our time. You will find a PDF-generator, your own light box and further sharing functions for your convenience. For the first time we'll also be sharing some moving images with you, produced on location of various shoots. Have fun exploring!

David Maurer: Lotus Series - Retro meets Future

Now here's an über cool stretch of car shots if ever there was one! These are the visual feasts that come to fruition, when you simply let the guy with the vision do his thing. And in this case, the man with the vision is David Maurer. Our Frankfurt based super hero for all things made of metal with wheels or wings ( BMW, Audi, Lufthansa) took it upon himself to revive the somewhat unsung cult status of the Lotus Éclat 22 – and perhaps an unsung mechanic turned electro god?! Don't you just love those 80's RGB disco portraits?! Pimp me up David! – Deliberately combining the natural light in an abandoned industrial hall with unusual and progressive lighting tricks he has ended up creating this stunning retro future clash where the gritty contrast of the industrial surroundings comes face to face with the beautiful streamlined 1980's contours and reflections of the Lotus, a car which, at it's time was one of the most minimalist and futuristic looking things on wheels – let's just call it “futro” shall we… because if you ever want to come back to the futro again, David is the one who can take you there. Fast forward and rewind all at the same time…

Christian Rolfes: Monster Attac

Christian Rolfes loves to go to town, especially when it comes to letting his imagination run wild… Rolfes, who sure has a playful and quirky streak in him, has shot for the likes of Adidas and Der Spiegel, and top advertising agencies DDB Düsseldorf and Jung von Matt, and was voted Talent of the Year 2011 by The Art Directors Club Germany. You just need to give him a concept – in this case the festering evils of the big cities - and the freedom to go a bit bonkers in his studio, and before you know it, he'll be building whole imaginary cities out of cardboard and other things flying about in the studio that he can get his hands on, including tights. Yes, tights. Stress, pollution and other similar “angsts” of ours caused by the pressures and intensities of the cities have manifested into giant angry and all consuming monsters made out of stuffed tights. They really do have an unsettling nature to them don't they? Yet Christian still manages to keep it all gloomily tongue in cheek. What a fun shoot! So next time you have an assignment to shoot some crazy bulging tights-monsters - Who you gonna call?!

Denis Ignatov: In Wonderland with Mickey Rourke's girl

You can tell, that Denis Ignatov is really in his element when he gets to build elaborate almost cinematic trailer trash sets where he can shoot beautiful women to his hearts delight! This time he had the opportunity to shoot the elegantly chiseled model Anastassija Makarenko for HUF magazine. Anastassija also happens to be Mickey Rourke’s girlfriend of more than just 9 ½ weeks. They now live in Germany together, and apparently she has tamed him - well, with a sickle like that, I think pretty much any man would (have to) behave! Entitled “Wonderland”, we find her musing about in a neon lit twilight zone caught somewhere between the theatrical underworld and death’s favourite playground where he hangs out on his day off. Lavishly trashy, with dark and mysterious undertones, this is one gorgeous shoot, thanks also to the excellent styling by Rolf Buck. With brilliant lighting and stunning set design, Denis really has triumphed here and got the very best out of himself and his team. Next up – Vogue!

Lutz Hilgers: Reflections

Lutz Hilgers has shot for many high profile brands, such as Lavazza, Villeroy & Boch, Nokia and Sony to name a few. From fashion and lifestyle to architecture and interiors, his expertise is very wide ranging, making him one of those much sought after all-rounders who is equally great with people places and spaces alike. Recently he has been capturing his everyday observations in cities such as London and Paris, whilst on the go. The use of reflections often involves richly saturated colours that Lutz brings to our attention. This all becomes a part of his language with which he layers surfaces and space, thus helping us create a portal into deeper dimensions within our mind’s eye and making us contemplate the seemingly mundane from a very private place. Lutz thereby invites us to go on an inner journey of our own as we dive into his photographic wanderings.