germany Feb 2009

Latest news from the Anja Wiroth Agency:

• Berlin-based rising star, Norman Konrad, shot a campaign for Doppelherz through agency Scholz & Friends, Hamburg. AW Services handled casting and production.
  
• Murat Aslan shot a campaign for Deichmann at Spreegraphen Studios, Berlin, with the support of AW Services.
  
• Barcelona-based car and landscape photographer, Stefano Morini, shot images for Seat.
• Still life photographer Junichi Ito shot new packaging for TDK.
• Talented young Buenos Aires photographer, Manuel Archain, tells real-life stories in his own unique style. He recently shot Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, for Convene Magazine.
• Newcomer Cem Guenes sprecialises in fashion, lifestyle and people photography. He has gained valuable experience shooting for clients Peek & Cloppenburg and Van Graf.
  
• Jörgen Brennicke shot the spring '09 collection for H&M featuring model Erin Wasson.

Latest news from the Agentur Neubauer & Springer photographers:

• Michael Munique shot for Lascana with Izabael Goulard on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
• Donja Pitsch completed a winter campaign for Yves Rocher. She also shot in Portofino, Italy, for French magazine Rosebuzz, and took portraits of designer Ron Arad to coincide with his exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
• Stefan Giftthaler was busy with a production for Vogue Pelle and a shoot for Must magazine, both completed in Milan.
• Andi Frank shot a CD cover for John Vincent's 'True Love' album with Mazik Morisien Productions on the island of Mauritius, and photographed ice landscapes on location in the Swedish Archipelago.

Jaap van den Beukel is a Dutch photographer based in Barcelona. Until a few years ago, he worked as a freelance photographer for advertising and design agencies in England, the Netherlands and Belgium. His work has been used for several applications, including annual reports and other b2b products.

More recently Jaap has become involved in staged photography, shooting people, portraiture and fashion assignments. His subjects are photographed in settings where both background and model are equally important, and his way of lighting a set gives a surrealistic atmosphere. The results have been used in campaigns for advertising agencies as well as several personal projects. Over the past few months, Jaap completed campaigns for clients RET, Forbo and AGFA, and throughout 2008 he put a lot of effort into his personal project entitled 'Gross'.

Clients include: Unilever, Shell, AGFA, Danone, SenterNovem, Nestlé, Forbo, RET, Stivoro, ING, SNS Reaal, SNS-Bank, GGD, CNV, City of Rotterdam, ZLM, Olympia, Sigma, AEB, Frigoglass, EVD, Belastingdienst.

"In bad times you have to give even more." Evidently, this is the way Mary Bin's clients have been thinking in recent months, with Doro, Ole and Peter being kept busy working around the globe with productions in San Diego, Sicily, Cape Town, Hamburg and Munich.

The agency would like to thank: Luminosa Productions, Gavin Schneider Productions, Episode Media Productions, Jacqui Lupton - hair and make-up, Christian Hanft - fine art retouching, Tania Hohenhoevel - styling (Liga Nord), Astrid Glänzel - hair and make-up (Liga Nord), Agniesha Collien - hair and make-up.

To coincide with the Berlinale International Film Festival, Marion Eckhardt Photographers recently inaugurated its first exhibition, 'Imaginations - deutsche Leinwandstars'. It shows a selection of fine art prints by celebrity photographer Wolfgang Wilde and marks the first occasion he has exhibited portraits of Hannelore Elsner, Armin Rohde, Udo Kier, Til Schweiger, and others.

The exhibition presents action stills in the theme of long running German crime series, 'Tatort Komissare'. Eva Mattes stands in the Bodensee choking a swan, Ulrike Folkerts hangs from a crane eight metres above the Rhine in Ludwigshafen, and Harald Krassnitzer appears from the bowels of Vienna in homage to 'The Third Man'.

The exhibition will run until March 7th at the Urania Berlin e.V. cinema. Supporting the event is Recom Art. Contact the Marion Eckhardt agency for more information or to enquire about prices.

On February 26th, Ansgar's exhibition opens at Olivier Castaing's Parisian gallery.

During the ready-to-wear shows, the photographer will invite all fashionistas in town to an additional vernissage to be held on March 7th at School Gallery, 81 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris.

The exhibition runs until March 21st.

Bernd Grundmann combines technology and imagination to cultivate an unpretentious minimalist style. Respecting the needs and concepts of his clients, Bernd is frequently called upon to solve sophisticated projects which have resulted in images as diverse as a series of post-mortem insect portraits, dramatic configurations of steering wheels, and jet propelled lipstick.

His successful corporate work in Switzerland has brought extensive experience of advertising and editorial photography. Aside from cosmetics and jewellery, food recently became his favourite field. Last year, Verlag Süddeutsche Zeitung and Collection Rolf Heyne both called upon the photographer to supply images for a series of books focusing on food - its origins, creation and presentation, the people who make it and the places in which it is enjoyed. The series is populated with stunning and well observed images; from the candor of a chef's smile, to the artistic presentation of a canapé, Bernd's attention to detail transforms a subject that has been covered many times before into a true delight for the senses.

Sascha Czerny was born in Bavaria and is now based between Hamburg and Berlin. He started his professional career rather atypically as a carpenter, before embracing his creative streak and dedicating his life to photography. He spent seven years learning, assisting, working and travelling throughout the world with various well known photographers. Since 2007, he has been shooting by himself, working on location mainly with cars and portraiture subjects.

Sascha loves experimenting with the theme of 'freedom' which he builds upon in different ways across his work. His recent clients include Alfa Romeo, DPD, Voss-Edelstahl, Rohwolt Verlag, Akbar Trading and Docter Optics.

Kirstin Knufmann is specialised in fashion, beauty and architectural photography. She has a wealth of international experience, having shot in various locations including New York, Los Angeles, Munich and Cologne.

Kirstin's compositions range from complex black and white definitions to significant colourful expressions. She is comfortable working in the studio and out on location, and her portfolio contains both editorial and commercial photography.

Kirstin's latest work, including fashion editorials and celebrity portraits, were produced in Los Angeles for a variety of different magazines.

Latest news from Sabine Duerichen:

• "Flower Power Kids" campaign, Barcelona.

• "Modern Ethno" fashion story for PJE.

• Black and white editorial work.

News and production highlights from Contra Service Productions International:

• Audi photo shoot in Montreal, Sydney and Cape Town. Contra provided locations and production services, including all travel arrangements, for a multi-location global shoot with photographer Sorin Morar.
• VW photo shoot on the island of Mallorca. Three ads were produced in December with photographer Tom Nagy and art director Johannes Hicks.
• After an absence of around eight years, Contra is back in the USA. The company (re)opened Contra Service Productions LLC in 2008, and after a series of successful campaigns can once again offer clients all the services required for shooting in the USA.
• Contra Service Productions Asia now has a dedicated Chinese website.
• Over the coming months the company has work planned in California, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Hong Kong. More info will appear in the next Showcase.
  

Latest campaigns from ProProduktion:

• Winter images at the start of June - this was the challenge for ProProduktion with the new Credit Swiss campaign. After spending lots of time in the air with a helicopter, the team made it possible for photographer Andreas Ande to shoot winter at its best. Location: Switzerland. Styling: Regina Stiefl. Agency: McCann Swiss. Production: ProProduktion.

• Munich-based photographer Gary Engel shot a fashion editorial for Made 05 magazine, Milan. No fewer than 12 different dogs made the shoot "interesting" for the production team. Location: Munich. Styling: Marstudio. Production: ProProduktion.

Latest work from alphadog post production:

• Complete CGI work for Blackberry, along with post production for a 'making of' taken from the product visualiation workflow.
• Photographer Uwe Düttmann shot for Germany's largest optician, Fielmann. alphadog is currently in production to finish the campaign.
  
• alphadog retouched the stellenanzeigen.de campaign, shot by Philipp Rathmer.
• Editorial series with one of Germany's top models, Franziska Knuppe. Photographed by Philipp Rathmer for Bunte. Retouched by alphadog.
  
• Photographer Gulliver Theis shot the T-Mobile Czech Republic campaign in Prague. Post production, composing and look definition by alphadog.
  
• 'Igora' by Schwarzkopf. alphadog handled beauty retouching and arrangement from key visuals. Photographed by Sabine Liewald.
  
• Deichmann campaign. alphadog arranged virtual CGI backgrounds and handled composing and beauty retouching.
  
• Mimi Müller-Westernhagen retouched for an editorial series by OK! magazine, shot by Philipp Rathmer.
  

• In close collaboration with photographer Mats Cordt, the company created a range of visuals for clothing and footwear manufacturer Sympatex Technologies. Although sweat was the subject and the athletes featured in the campaign were pushed to their limits, the team at [zerone] apparently "never reached the point of exhaustion." The liquid elements were completely done using CGI and later composited alongside live action photography.

• The company worked with photographer Tom Grammerstorf on the brochure for the new Volkswagen Scirocco. CGI technology was used for all but one of the exterior location shots of the car. The photographer adopted parts of [zerone] cgi's workflow for the shoot, previsualising the car on location as if physically there. The team were able to use the data to speed up production of the final images, helping the agency to get a proper impression of the final results and saving both time and money.

Following on from its Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Amsterdam locations, 711rent Frankfurt recently opened its doors with some fantastic new equipment, including Profoto 8A, Bron Scoro and Hasselblad H3DII-50.

The new location will offer 711's familiar level of service and range of equipment to the Main metropole, with the highly experienced Frank Marburger and Hans Keller on hand to assist clients with all their queries and requests. Customers registered at any of 711's locations can rent and collect equipment from Frankfurt, 24/7.

• The Profoto 8A recycles almost twice as fast as the Pro-7, with quicker flash duration and colour stability and a 10 f-stop power range in 1/10 or full f-stops.
• The Broncolor Scoro has three lamp outlets and is controlled over three individual channels. It offers very fast recycling and colour stability over six f-stops, as well as a 10 f-stop power range.
• The Hasselblad H3DII-50 includes a 50 Megapixel 36x48mm sensor and is faster (1.1 sec/frame) than the H3D39II, with an ISO range of 50-400.

Although high quality design features and contemporary fittings play a pivotal role in the company's DNA, art'otel wasn't conceived on its fabric alone: at its very core is the art itself. Each hotel displays a collection of original paintings, sculptures or photographs, designed or acquired specifically for each location.

art'otel guests are art enthusiasts who, when travelling for business or pleasure, choose to stay in a hotel where they can literally sleep under an original canvas. Artworks can be found in the corridors, guest rooms and public areas of every hotel. The restaurant and bar facilities in each location are modern, bright and colourful, with fresh and enticing drinks and snacks to provide any city novice with enough energy to explore the many museums, galleries, theatres and restaurants close by.

Featured artists: Andy Warhol (art'otel berlin city centre west), Georg Baselitz (art'otel berlin mitte), Wolf Vostell (art'otel kudamm), A.R. Penck (art'otel dresden), Katja Sieverding (art'otel potsdam), A. Tessenow (art'otel leipzig), Donald Sultan (art'otel budapest), SEO (art'otel cologne, opening winter 2009).