online 8.2009

Hasselblad advertising_english_traz.indd 1 08.09.2008 15:09:29 Uhr

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04 >> newsAdobe’s Camera Raw now recognizes and processes Hasselblad RAW format 3FR · Hasselblad promotion: celebration at the NASA Space Center · BCP Award: Gold for VICTOR by Hasselblad

06 >> hasselblad masters The 2009 Hasselblad Masters Awards’ 100 finalists have been determined. Join in the public voting and enjoy a grand touring exhibition of the finalists’ impressing work.

14 >> jonathan singerFlowers are American photographer Jonathan Singer’s great passion. Singer’s extremely detail-rich, color-perfect photographs capture organic poetry with technical precision .

22 >> 7 upVICTOR asked seven representatives from the international photo scene to choose their personal top photographer Newcomer – and to explain why these are the ones to watch.

24 >> billy & hellsTough horsemen, Indian warriors, provocative saloon girls – photographer duo Billy & Hells imbue western heroes with new life. Captivating portraits free of any wild-west romanticism.

32 >> roth & ramberg

Canadian photographers Dale Roth and Michele Ramberg understand how to present life with all its scurrilous humor yet at the same time create calm and well balanced compositions.

eDITORIAl

jonathan singer trans forms flowers as the aristolochia ringens (ri.) or the eucrosia mirabilis

(cover) into art

CONTeNT

Yet another reason to

celebrate! For the second

time in a row, VICTOR by

Hasselblad received the re-

nowned bCp gold award.

At the end of June, the 120 member Forum

Corporate Publishing jury awarded VICTOR by

Hasselblad first place in the B2C trade category

of Europe’s most prestigious corporate publish-

ing awards. Not only the prize itself, but also

the jury’s reasoning, made us very happy: “An

excellent, large-format magazine with auda-

cious pictures and motifs, and a flawless lay-out.

A consummate magazine for one of the world’s

leading cameras – a well balanced mixture of

aesthetics and information.” I’d like to take

this opportunity to thank the VICTOR team for

their extremely professional work, as well as

you, the reader, for remaining faithful to both

the print and on-line versions of the magazine.

While this award encourages the VICTOR

team to continue putting together inspiring

portfolios and well-founded technical informa-

tion in the customary excellent lay-out, the

40 year celebration of the moon landing is an

inspiration for Hasselblad’s developers.

When Neil Armstrong took that first step on

July 20th, 1969, he and his colleagues used

their Hasselblad cameras to take pictures that

are now part of humanity’s collective memory.

Aiming to also give professional photographers

down on earth the best possible equipment

and optimal technical conditions, Hasselblad

cameras continue to evolve and improve.

Hasselblad’s most elaborate cameras

on the market today are the h3dii-50 and the

h3dii-60. Any photographer purchasing either

of these two cameras between July 1 and August

21, 2009, is invited to Hasselblad’s 40 year

celebration at the nasa Kennedy space

Center in Florida at the end of September. The

two day event includes a gala dinner attended

by astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr to honor

this great step in human history. Above all,

participants will be able to get to know the

latest Hasselblad equipment and discuss the

future of photographic technology with the best

of Hasselblad engineers.

I hope you’ll enjoy and be inspired by this

latest issues of VICTOR on-line, and look for-

ward to seeing you at the NASA Kennedy Space

Centre at the end of September.

Yours,

Stephan Bittner, publisher

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For the second time in a row, VICTOR by Hasselblad was given first place in the trade B2C category of the renowned BCP Awards. “An excel-lent, large-format magazine with audacious pictures and motifs, and a flawless lay-out. A consummate mag-azine for one of the world’s leading cameras – a well balanced mixture of aesthetics and information,” was the reasoning given by the Forum Cor-porate Publishing jury made up of journalists, art directors and experts in the fields of marketing, enterprise and international communication. Existing since 2003, and currently accepting 600 submissions, the BCP Awards, with its 27 categories, has become the largest corporate publi-shing award in Europe. In addition to the BCP Gold awards in 2008 and 2009, VICTOR by Hasselblad has re-ceived five first prizes in important European and international compe-titions, since its launch in 2006.

And the next prize is within our grasp: VICTOR by Hasselblad has re-cently been nominated for the 2010 German Design Award. Recognized by the Federal Ministry of Commerce

and Technology, this prize is the most important official

German award in the field of design. ■

victornEWS

The new 5.4 version of Adobe Cam-era Raw (ACR) allows the user to include Hasselblad 3FR files in an Adobe workflow. ACR reads the 3FR raw file format from a CompactFlash card or a hard drive directly into Photoshop and Lightroom. ACR 5.4

supports 3FR files from the following Hasselblad cameras: CF-22, CF-22MS, CF-39, CF-39MS, CFH-22, CFH-39, CFV, 503CWD, H2D-22, H2D-39, H3D-22, H3D-31, H3D-39, H3DII-22, H3DII-31, H3DII-39, H3DII-39MS, and H3DII-50. In a Hasselblad work-flow where you shoot tethered the resulting raw FFF files are not com-patible with this edition of ACR.

The new functionality is an im-portant step in the cooperation between Adobe and Hasselblad with the aim of opening up a new choice of workflow when working with Hasselblad’s high-end digital cam-eras. Hasselblad CEO, Christian Poulsen comments: “At Hasselblad we have spent years refining our cameras to deliver the highest image quality. Having achieved this goal we now do our best to open up a choice of possibilities for imaging workflow and the use of our image-files by oth-er state-of-the-art imaging software products. I trust that the release of ACR 5.4 will work as a pointer and starting point for further options, e.g. FFF functionality.” ■

40 years ago, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. His words “That’s one small step for a man, one giant step for mankind,” are unforgettable, as are the pictures he, his co-pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and all other Apollo crews have taken with their Hasselblad cameras. The images have become part of humanity’s collective memory. To celebrate the anniversary of the first moon land-ing, Hasselblad is organising a big event from September 24 to 26, at the NASA Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. After all, the first moon land-ing was also a big step for Hasselblad: the technical advances developed for the moon cameras were incorporated into Hasselblad’s series models.

The most elaborate Hasselblad cameras currently available are the H3DII-50 and the H3DII-60. Photog-raphers who purchase one of these two cameras between July 1 and August 21, 2009, are invited to take part in this great Hasselblad event. During the celebrations, guests will not only meet other photographers, insiders and journalists, but will also take part in a gala dinner where Ed-win “Buzz” Aldrin will be the guest of honor and will give a presentation on moon photography.

Above all, participants will have the chance to get to know ev-erything about the latest Hasselblad equipment and to discuss the future of photo technology. In addition, they can take part in a photo competition and win valuable prizes. ■

WorkfloWACR 5.4 ReAds 3FR Files diReCtly

EvEntHAsselblAd on tHe moon

bcp-aWardgold FoR viCtoR by HAsselblAd

An important step in the co-operation between Adobe and

Hasselblad: Adobe Camera Raw 5.4 can now directly read

the Hasselblad 3 FR raw file format and include it smoothly

in an Adobe workflow

issue 2/2008 of viCtoR by Hasselblad received first place in the trade b2C category of the bCP Awards (logo above). Cover photo: Jono Rotman

Anyone purchasing an H3dii-50 or H3dii-60 until August 21, is invited to be part of the Hasselblad 40 year moon landing celebration

ART

2|2008ENGLISH

13 Euros www.victorbyhasselblad.com

STATe of The

Go extreme There’s no turning back

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SanDisk and the Sandisk logo, SanDisk Extreme and Compact Flash are trademarks of SanDisk Corp, registered in the US and other countries. SDHC logo is a trademark of SD-3C LLC. © 2009 SanDisk Corporation. Taking images under water requires waterproof camera and case. Memory cards not waterproof. * 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes. x=150kb/sec. Based on SanDisk internal testing; performance may vary depending upon host device. ** 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some capacities not available for data storage.

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victornEWS

The 2008 Masters competition was an unbridled success. And now over3000 applicants have submitted pho-tos for the 2009 Masters competition, making this year’s competition the most successful to date.

This incredible turnout proves once again the strength of the Hassel-blad brand and of our commitment to photography and photographers. This year, we are opening the vot-ing jury to the general photographic public for the first time ever.

In addition to the renowned pho-tographers, photographic editors, and industry professionals, one jury seat on the 2009 jury will be com-prised by the voting public. Voting will take place trough a special web portal where visitors can view the 10 finalists in each category and vote for their favorites. In addition, a spe-cial “Masters on Tour” exhibition will bring large, high quality prints of the finalists’ submissions to spe-cially selected venues (Copenhagen, London, New York, and Hong Kong), enabling photo enthusiasts to see these fantastic images up close and personal and in full, glorious size. Be sure to log on and cast your vote for the upcoming Masters and we look forward to seeing you at one of the exhibitions if you can make it. Con-tact Christian Norgaard for more details regarding the Masters exhibi-tions or the Masters Awards program in general. ■ www.hasselblad.com/Masters-2009-Open-Jury

Masters exhibited

bronek Kozka (General category) connects “Passion” to the passion of Christ (right), landscape pho-tographer hans strand to his love for iceland (far right)

the ten 2008 hasselblad Masters present their interpretations of “Passion” in the hasselblad Mas-ters 2008 book. above, a picture by august bradley (he won in the Up-and-Coming category), and below a work by portrait special-ist Morfi Jiménez Mercado

Fashion photographer andrej Ko- pac introduces envy, greed, fear, worry and shame into his passion portfolio, taking photos in a cem-etery, among other places (below)

Passionate images by benjamin antony Monn (left), the Fine-arts winner, Julia Fullerton-batten (below left), and the editorial master, Louie Palu (below right)

Gregor halenda, who won in the Product category, put together an adrenaline charged series (above left). Wedding photographer Kevin then opted for romanticism (above)

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Jonathan singer Equipped with a Hasselblad H2D-39, his intuition and his own special technique, the American, Jonathan Singer, brings us botany in a brand new light. He understands how to capture organic poetry with technical precision. The pictures are so detailed and color-perfect, that viewers forget they are looking at digital images. Singer takes floral photography to new heights.

Marantochloa purpurea (Prayer Plant Family, tropical

africa); right: „otherworldly landscape“, taken from the

abstraction series

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Clockwise from top left: Acer palmatum ‘Shigitatsu Sawa’ (soapberry Family); Digitalis purpurea L. (Foxglove, Plantain Family europe); Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (Contorted Filbert or harry Lauder’s Walking stick, Birch Family); Clitoria ternatea L. (Butterfly Pea, tropical asia Woody Vine); right: Brassia Edvah Loo ‘Nishida’ (B. gireoudiana, orchid family)

PorTfolio Jonathan singer

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Cananga odorata (Ylang-ylang, Perfume tree annonaceae, Custard apple Family, tropical asia and northern australia); right: Victoria amazonica (giant amazon Water Lily, Water Lily Family, Brazil)

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Left: Tillandsia dyeriana (Bromeliad Family, ecuador); right (clockwise

from top left): Alsophila australis (australian tree Fern, tree Fern

Family, australia); Calathea crotalifera, (rattlesnake Plant, Prayer Plant

Family, Mexico to north america); Anthurium Clarinervium (aroid Family,

Mexiko); Equisetum hyemale L., (horsetail or scouring rush, horsetail

Family, northern hemisphere)

Jonathan singer PorTfolio

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Clockwise from top left: Garcia nutans (False tungoil tree, spurge Family, Mexico); Aphelandra aurantiaca var. roezlii (acanthus Family, Peru); Gloriosa superba (gloriosa Lily, Winter Crocus Family, southeastern africa); Anthurium wendlingeri (aroid Family, nicaragua, Costa rica, Panama, and Colombia); right: Aristolochia ringens (Dutchman’s Pipe, Dutchman’s Pipe Family, tropical america)

PorTfolio Jonathan singer

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Left: Hedychium longicornutum (Wild tree ginger, ginger Family, thailand and peninsular Malaysia); right (above): Aristolochia fimbriata (Dutchman’s Pipe Family, Brazil, Paraguay and southern argentina); right (below): Vigna caracalla (snail Vine, Pea Family, south america)

Behind an amazing project that unites art and science, lies the unusu-al story of a man who reconciles both disciplines within himself. Flowers were Jonathan Singer’s childhood passion, whilst art and photography were the passions of his youth. As an adult he became a surgeon who took photographs to counterbalance his work. He accompanied New York graffiti artists and documented their images. “My graffiti series established my photographic base, but it still wasn’t right for me because it wasn’t my art – I was photographing some-one else’s work, and it never quite sat properly with me. I had to find my own voice.”

Though he feels admiration for the Dutch masters, Singer does not want to be influenced by other art-ists. A source of inspiration that gave him artistic direction, however, was John James Audubon’s monumental “Birds of America” that appeared in four tomes between 1827 and 1838. The artist’s life-size drawings of birds showed so much more than just an artistic talent. The 39.5 by 29.5 inch book was the largest published up to that point, and is still considered a standard reference catalogue for re-searchers today. Singer’s ambition had been sparked: “I looked at Audu-bon’s books and wondered if I could meet them or beat them.”

A sharp eye for the smallest detail and an ability to make quick deci-sions were talents he already applied as a surgeon, and then brought into his photography. With an artistic un-derstanding of the Dutch masters in the back of his mind, Singer bought a bunch of poppies as a motif, and be-gan his photographic experimenta-

Singer says with a chuckle. The pho-tographer – who rarely spends more than two minutes on any one mo-tif, shoots once and gets the per-fect picture – adds, “The Hasselblad H2D-39 is fully automatic, but I set it on manual and control it all.”

Singer is like a missionary whose art is aimed at achieving recognition for the transience of rare beauties, while also justifying his own reputa-tion. Helped by his printer, Jon Cone, and his book binder, Tini Miura, he had ten exclusive portfolios printed with an IRIS printer on hand-made Japanese paper. Each volume of the five-piece sets in “Double Elephant” format, measures 39.5 by 29.5 inch-es, weighs close to 35 lbs and costs just over two million US dollars. Set Number 1 can currently be admired at the Smithsonian Institute; the sec-ond has been purchased by a Japa-nese business man, and the rest are still for sale.

With breathtaking speed, Singer created his next floral monument last year: “Tulipae Hortorum” currently delights both scientists and public alike at the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm. Relentlessly the Amer-ican photographer is already taking on the next project, developing with Takahashi a 4.000 mm macro system for Hasselblad cameras, so that you can comfortably photograph “an elephant at a distance of 10 miles”. He is hoping to photograph both solar nebula and stardust with it, to leave behind a record for posterity. For Singer, urgency is at the heart of the matter, of life itself. For the past six years he has known that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. carla susanne erdmann

tion with a Hasselblad H1D-22. “They were nice but not special,” Singer ex-plains. Six months and thousands of dollars for prints later, he stumbled across a technique whilst working with the camera and post processing the pictures on the computer, that truly brought the colors and details of the flora to life.

With a few photographs, Jona-than Singer was able to convince Dr. W. John Kress, botanist at the Smith sonian Institute in Washing-ton, D.C., of his mammoth project “Botanica Magnifica”. Kress recog-nised the potential and sent him to his colleague Marc Hachadourian who arranged access to the Smith-sonian’s holy conservatories. “It was like letting the fox in the henhouse,”

Jonathan singer PorTfolio

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Maki kawakitaoutlandishly animatedKozue Yamada, Angle Management, Tokyo: “Maki’s work features eccentric styling that is unique and illustrates her wicked sense of humor and refined irony. She both mocks and celebrates pop culture with pictures that re-flect her multi-cultural background. That she lives and works in New York can be seen in her photos as clearly as the fact that she grew up in Tokyo. Many of her carefully composed pictures contain animated, puppet-like figures and lively colors, inspired by traditional Japa-nese Kabuki Theater, Manga figures and the outlandish fashion found in the hip Harajuku and Shibuya neighborhoods of Tokyo.” Maki Kawakita: Born in Tokyo/Japan in 1974; 1994–1998 Tama Art University; 2000–2002 Photography Masters Program in New York; freelance photographer since 2000. Pub-lished in ‘Dazed & Confused’, ‘Marie Claire’/USA/Japan, among others. Advertisements for Levi’s, Morinaga, among others.

www.makiphoto.comwww.angle-management.com

Dirk reespassionately creativeJohn Cross, Peter Bailey Photographers Agents, London: “Dirk captures energy, emo-tion and passion. His pictures reflect his love and enthusiasm for photography. He comes to every photo shoot with a vision, and, because of his talent as a team leader, his technical competence, and his creative sense, he turns his vision into reality. Some of his wonderful, personal projects have led to weighty advertis-ing campaigns, because, through them, he has proven his capability in the studio, showing that he is able to handle larger projects. That’s why I’m sure that he will become an award-winning top-class advertising photographer.”

Dirk Rees: Born in Cape Town/South Africa in 1972; 1993–2001 worked in film, advertise-ment and documentary production; freelance photographer since 2001; published in ‘Elle‘, ‘GQ’, ‘Tramp‘, among others. Advertisements for Legendary Diamonds, LG, among others; Communication Arts Award 2007.

www.dirkrees.com www.peterbailey.co.uk

7 Upwhich photographers are currently on the move to the very top? ViCtOr got seven international photo representatives to choose –we present their newcomers and tell why these are the ones to watch.

DaViD FisChercoolly narrativeJessica Valin, Family MGMT, Stockholm: “David’s photos tell wonderful stories. They are contemporary and fresh, with great dynamics. The viewer is touched, even aroused, by the apparent vulnerability of the people shown in the pictures. David is young and full of drive, his most important sources of inspiration are pop culture and the alternative art and music scenes. By mixing both worlds, he questions established traditions and designs a new universe.”

David Fischer: Born in Freiburg/Germany in 1974; 1995–1996 History of Art studies; 1996–1998 Photography studies in New York. 1996–1999 Photo-assistant for Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, among others; freelance pho-tographer since 1999. Published in ‘Surface’, ‘Nylon’, ‘Quest’, among others. Exhibitions include New York, Berlin and Stockholm.

www.davidfischer.orgwww.familymanagement.se

Maki Kawakita

Dirk Rees

David Fischer

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asger Carlsensurprisingly timely Patrick Casey, Marge Casey + Associates, New York: “In Asger Carlsen’s work we find passing moments systematically frozen in time giving the viewer an impression that he sim-ply stumbled across the situation. At the same time, his pictures are so finely balanced that it’s unclear if they were intentionally crafted to appear like chance moments, or if they actu-ally existed in time. What is sure, however, is that Asger is a colorist with a very young, fresh and modern approach to every-day subjects.”

Asger Carlsen: Born in Frederiksberg/ Den mark in 1973; 1992–1997 freelance pho-tographer for the ‘Helsingør Dagblad’; free-lance photographer in Copenhagen and San Francisco since 1997; published in ‘Tank Magazine’, ‘Arena’, ‘Euroman’, among others. Awards include: 1st Prize, AGFAs International Prize for Young Photojournalism 2003.

www.asgercarlsen.comwww.margecasey.com

Jean-PhiliPPe MalaValbeautifully litCatherine Traore, Cat Productions, Paris: “Jean-Philippe Malaval is a lighting technician – a perfectionist who loves to play with light. At the beginning of his career he predominantly worked in fashion photo-graphy, but gradually turned towards beauty shoots. He gets a lot of his inspiration from exhibitions, books and the movies. Jean-Philippe is young, very talented and grows with each new task. He is enthusiastic about every single photo shoot, is meticulous in his preparation and as a result is constantly improving.”

Jean-Philippe Malaval: Born in Paris/France in 1970; 1989–1991 photographic studies; 1992–1996 photo assistant to André Carrara and Jacques Olivar; freelance photographer since 1996; published in ‘Marie Claire’, ‘Elle’/France and Japan, and ‘Icon’, among others. Advertisements for Revlon, Junko Shimada and Garnier, among others.

www.jpmalaval.comwww.cat-prod.com

raul DOCasarcinematographically livelyClaudia Gottwalt, pinkorange photographers and illustrators, Barcelona: “The thing that’s special about Raul’s style is that he’s not influ-enced by fashion trends, his images are infused with his characteristic, cinematographic sig-nature. Raul manages to tease out the ‘soul’ of every photograph. In this sense, his training in the movie industry serves him very well and it’s also evident in the unique lighting he uses. His pictures are not only beautiful, they com-municate with the viewer, which is precisely what makes them so unique.”

Raul Docasar: Born in A Coruña/Spain in 1977; 1996–1997 Film and Photography studies; 1998–2002 work in various theater and film areas, including camera man; free-lance photographer since 2003; published in ‘Clara’, ‘Men’s Health‘, ‘Avui’, ‘El Dominical’, among others. Advertisements for Burberry, Etiem, Torradas&Patchwork, among others.

www.pinkorange.es

sabine sCheerironically colorful Anke Peters, Rockenfeller & Göbels, Düs-seldorf: “Bright, lively and flamboyant colors characterize Sabine Scheer’s photos as much as her showy imagery and individual lighting style. To compose her stories, she frequently combines her favorite subjects: stills, food and animals, giving them unexpected twists and seducing the viewer into a fascinating world of ideas. With her confident and mature direction, her technical perfection and her obsessive precision, she produces stunning pictures, full of interesting details.”

Sabine Scheer: Born in Saarlouis/Germany in 1974; 1994–1996 training in Advertising and Industrial Photography; 1996–2002 studies in Visual Communication and Photo Design; 1999 photo assistant to Hans Neleman, among others; freelance photographer since 2003. Advertisements for Kikkoman, Licher Private Brewery and Doctors without Borders, among others; the Limes Art Award 2002.

www.sabinescheer.de www.fotografenagentur.de

tOP seVen newCOMers

Asger Carlsen

Jean-Philippe Malaval

Raul Docasar

Sabine Scheer

ONLINE 8/2009

This is what a sharp shooting means today – Photographer

duo Billy & Hells revive some of the ancient Wild

West’s most popular heroes exclusively

for VICTOR.

Dressed up, Sascha looks like Lucky Luke incarnate, and impresses everyone at the shoot with his perfect poses. Christina (right) portrays Annie Oakley, one of the Wild West’s most famous female sharpshooters in these times who was able to shoot down a bird flying in the sky from the back of a galloping horse

photos: Billy & hells

Wild West

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In real life, Angela (left) also has a liking for the cowboy look. Plez (right) really wanted to play the bad boy during the photo shoot. He works as a visual artist and musician, but is very easy-going when producing his own work

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Rheinheart was at last able to fulfill a childhood dream – under normal circumstances, the musician has nothing to do with models. Endo (right), the ‘Indian’, is Japa-nese and was running a high fever on the day of the production

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Murray (left) took great care to ensure the authenticity of his braids – the Blackfoot Indian knows exactly what they should look like. Victor is a model for expensive fashion brands and was irritated at having to wear a tatty T-shirt

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David wears authentic Rockabilly jewelry. The styling is not always historically correct, but always looks good. Mira (right) is wearing a felt shawl that was lying around in a corner of the costume storage room. After the shoot she was going to a techno night

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Tough horsemen, Indian warriors, provocative saloon girls – nothing new on the western front. Times were hard in the era beginning around 1620, when European pio-neers struggled, sweating blood and tears, as they migrated from east to west across the new continent. In 1890, the American government declared an end to territorial expan-sion; but the myths surrounding those first settlers who fought on the front line live on today. Stories we heard of rowdy cowboys and their fancy ladies, uncivilized natives and the fight for land and women, come almost exclusively from Hollywood productions that have in turn, be-come legends themselves. But films often convey a faulty image. In all the different forms of media, the Wild West of the newly founded United States of America is often ro-manticized; but that’s just one part of the picture: the Wild West was also a time of racism, vigilante justice, early capitalism and genocide.

Berlin photographers, Anke Linz and Andreas Oettinger, who have become well established under the pseudonym Billy & Hells, want to shed a different light on the Wild West clichés. This time they’re work-ing hand in hand with an outfitter, and a hair and make-up artist who also contribute ideas to the produc-tion. Stephan Schmied, on behalf of the production team, explains the idea behind the project: “We didn’t want cute disco cowboys with check-ered shirts.” In contrast to cowboy movies, Billy & Hells did not want to recreate fictional scenes. The aim rather was to convey as authentic and realistic an impression as possi-ble of the period around 1850 – easier said than done. While researching on the subject of ‘Westerns’, they did not limit themselves exclusively to studying the movie genre. As Anke Linz says, “that would be the visual equivalent of playing Chinese Whis-pers with ten people.”

To make themselves a true picture of the era, they dug through histori-cal archives, including, among oth-ers, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. In particular, they focused on portrait photography of the time. “There are works of art there that unfortunately never get seen,” says Andreas Oettinger, “the way they used light and perspective back then was simply awesome,” he adds with delight. “In our case we tried to simulate daylight using artificial light in our studio.” The light was not meant to produce any

special effect and was designed to create as little shadow as possible. To make sure there was plenty of variety among the characters, Billy & Hells worked with professional agency models and amateurs from among their circle of friends. Something that appears natural might actually be artificial, which is typical of Billy & Hells. “Things don’t have to be real, they just have to look like it. We always found a way to get around any problems,” Anke Linz explains. This is how the ‘Indian’ on page 57 turned out to actually be Japanese. They had real luck with Murray, a member of the Blackfoot tribe (page 58) though it took some artful per-

suasion to convince him to take part in the project.

The idea that the ‘outfit makes the man’ is rarely as evident as when dealing with the subject of the Wild West. “As soon as a person puts on the clothes, it’s easy to see how much western blood they have in them,” Heidi Plätz, in charge of costumes for the production, declares “some people turn into cowboys at the drop of a hat, and even start moving dif-ferently.” Heidi found the appropri-ate tops, bottoms and accessories at the ‘Theaterkunst GmbH’ in Berlin, an institution that has collected over ten million pieces of apparel since 1907. After all, “the Western look

is more than just hats and guns.” It is also important to note that back then a person’s wardrobe was often a combination of bits and pieces: con-sequently, former slaves were seen wearing uniform jackets belonging to victims of the civil war, native In-dians dressed in European women’s clothes as a sign of their victory over the white man, and women often disguised themselves in men’s shirts and trousers.

“Brand new clothes would have simply made it look like a fancy dress party” Andreas Oettinger says. “That’s why we wanted scruffiness,” Heidi Plätz explains. Her hands show

scratches and sores from handling the rough texture of the original clothes. Together with Stephan Schmied she gave the final touches to the styling; it was important that the model’s hair did not appear shiny, but matt and dusty. “We gave everything a good coating of dirt,” Heidi adds. “It’s normal to exaggerate and over-do things for the camera, but I was shocked when I saw everything that appeared in the pictures.”

From an artistic point of view, the razor-like sharpness of the Hasselblad H3D-39 used by Billy & Hells, could been seen as a disad-vantage. “It’s better for the pictures if the focus isn’t quite one hundred percent,” Andreas Oettinger com-ments, after working with the high-end camera and using HC Macro, 50, 80 and 120mm lenses. Oettinger considers the incredible sharpness – where it’s actually hard to believe one’s eyes – as an “elemental prob-lem of digital photography.” One simply gets too close, as though “one can see right under a person’s skin.” To ensure that the pictures do not lack depth nor appear too hard, the duo put a lot of effort into as-siduous post production work. “The digital image is the raw product, like a stone that still needs to be sanded down,” Anke Linz muses. The photo shoot only took two days. It’s when the camera work is over that things really get going for Andreas Oet-tinger. “With digital photography, the computer is not only the devel-opment module, but also the main processing tool,” he explains of his extended photographic profession. Making use of their highly unique techni-color aesthetics, which they developed from the Cinematoscope methods of the 1950’s with enhanced grey and black parts, with countless self-programmed filters, they man-age to bring tension and contrast into the images. This produces an intense depth. In any case it is the figures, seemingly frozen between two worlds that capture the atten-tion. The protagonists of the series appear authentic, timeless and yet modern. So it’s hardly surprising if one of the cowboys is recognized out in the real world strolling through the big city masses, or if an Indian goes to a dance club after the photo shoot – wearing the same hairstyle. carla susanne erdmann

Wild West

Setting: Heidi Plätz (heidi@plez.de); hair/make-up: Stephan Schmied/ m4 motion; hair/make-up assistance: Patrick Gorra/m4 motion); photo assis tance: Andreas Möricke; catering: Gorilla; models: Sascha, Christina, Angela, Endo, Murray, Victor, David, Mira/all Deebeephunky; Nabil, Maximilian/both Seeds; Plez (www.plez.de); Rheinheart (www.rheinheart.com)

www.billyundhells.de

Nabil (left) did a perfect job of catching the look of a melancholic cowboy. Maximilian (above), playing a dandy, brings contrast to the other rough-looking characters, who have to fight their way through life. In real life it’s only at school where he has to get his act together

Billy & HEllSThe duo met in 1986 at a vil-lage disco near Nuremberg, Bavaria. Andreas Oettinger later trained as a photographer (Fotoschule München, 1987–89), and then worked as an assistant to Uwe Düttmann in Hamburg. In 1990, Anke Linz joined him in Hamburg where they sold flowers and worked on various projects together. From 1992 to 1995, Linz and Oettinger lived out in the country and ran a photo lab. During that time, they developed and built a transportable daylight studio, with which they took por-traits of country folk, musi-cians and artists. They have used the name Billy & Hells since 1993, and in 1995 they opened their first studio in Munich, where they carried out editorial and commercial work. Since the year 2000, Billy & Hells live in Berlin where they also run a studio, working closely with Galerie Lumas since 2004.

ONLINE 8/200934

Hasselblad Masters 2006

of having the buffalo stand in the background whilst the owners sat on the sofa. After a few shots, the buffalo jumped over the sofa with ease and grace, landing two feet away from the camera without knocking over anything. The buffalo finally calmed and laid down on the floor to watch television. Needless to say, that was the shot.

The dream. It’s always been our dream to shoot personal work and to publish it in books. A few gallery shows would be nice … it’s always the lack of time that slows things down.

The treasure. Every year we do a promotional desk calendar. For this year’s edition we went to Roswell, New Mexico, home of the infamous 1947 UFO crash. We met some inte­resting people with incredible stories of UFO sightings, abductions, and alien­human hybrid children. Beyond that we’ve been photo graphing the CN Rail annual report for the past ten years. It’s nice to have loyal clients.

The Hasselblad. We shoot almost exclusively with the H1D system. The ability to view the image almost instantly has clearly earned us the admiration of our clients. The ability to place a layout on top of the image has also been a bonus.

Dale Roth and Michele Ramberg are Hasselblad Masters because they understand how to present life with all its scurrilous humor yet at the same time create calm and well balanced compositions. A great combination.

Dale Roth, born 1963 in Calgary, Canada | Michele Ramberg, born

1967 in Ponoka, Canada | 1985 –1987 ‘Northern Alberta Institute

of Technology’ | till 1993 and 1990 respectively assisted for various photographers | in 1993 founded

‘Roth and Ramberg Photography’ | live and work in Alberta, Canada

| clients: CN Rail, McDonalds, Bell Canada | prizes: Les Prix Extra

Awards 2004, National Magazine Awards 2004 among others

Above: Roth and Ramberg Poster (2002); below: Dale’s mother models for Divine Hardwood

(2004); bottom: Calgary Zoo (2003): There’s no substitute for the zoo

www.rothandramberg.comwww.agoodson.com

www.hasselblad.com

Top: Pipeline Surf (2004);above: Western Oil Sands (2006); left: MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Driving (2006); right: an image for the Roth and Ramberg Calendar 2007, taken in Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, Canada

The beginning. Michele: My parents gave me a camera in my early teens and I just couldn’t stop using it. Dale: At some point in my youth I came to the conclusion that I wanted my career to be enjoyable and satisfying. Looking at magazines I thought: “some one’s got to be taking these pictures”, so I began there.The heroes. Michele: I’m always inspired by new up­and­coming talents. Their enthusiasm motivates me to stay fresh. Dale: I’m a longtime fan of Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus and, lately, Edward Burtynsky. My favourite photograph of all time is ‘Migrant Mother’ by Dorothea Lange. It’s a timeless image. By looking at the photograph you can tell so much about that family. Both Dorothea Lange and Diane Arbus had a journalistic style that I love. Diane Arbus’s photos are definitely ‘posed’ but in a realistic kind of way. I think both styles affect the way I photo­graph. As far as Edward Burtynsky goes, there is something beautiful in his images of ‘non’ beautiful things. He sees things differently than I do and I respect that.

The hobbyhorse. Michele: My husband and I travel a lot and I en­joy shooting documentary style – especially of people we encounter. Dale: Michele had the idea that every year I photograph my children on their birthday using the same background. It should be quite interesting by the time they are 18.

The excitement. One of our oddest commissions was for ‘People’ magazine, photographing a family with a full­grown buffalo who occasionally stayed inside their home. We came up with the idea

ROTH AND RAMBERg

36 ONLINE 8/2009

Next victor oNliNe: 1 september 2009

Items and topics in the next issue of VICtOr online may be changed or post-poned due to editorial or other reasons.

Hans neleman >> documentary or art? either way spell-binding!

tIm FlaCH >> his sculptural horse photographs

have made him world famous

raya >> her refined sense of fashion and beauty gives rise to inspiring images

Be surprised by inspiring portfolios, keep up-to-date with the most significant photographic trends, read in-depth articles on technical developments. On September 1, 2009, check your monitor for the next issue of VICTOR online.

realization: IDC Corporate Publishing GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

All articles and illustrations contained in the online magazine are subject to the laws of copyright. Any form of utilisation beyond the narrow limits imposed by the laws of copyright and without the expressed permis-sion of the publisher is forbidden and will be prosecuted. We accept no respon sibility for unsolicited material and this will only be returned if appropriate postage is included.

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VICTOR online | 8/2009www.victorbyhasselblad.cominfo@victorbyhasselblad.com

Publisher: Stephan Bittner, Center of Service GmbH

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