30.11.2021  •  Photographers NEWS

0
 

GoSee NEWS presents ‘The Deconstructed Bling’, a fashion editorial with a film by Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T including a big exclusive interview with the Hamburg-based photographer, who takes photos with personalities

CREDITS / DETAILS / VIDEO EMBED LINK

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

Styling: Shima Khazei
Hair & Make-up: Daniela Prost
Location: PLAY Studios, Hamburg
Model: Iman Sukii c/o Mega Model Agency
Photographer: Det Kempke c/o Double T Photographers
DIGITAL ASSISTANT: Konstantin Odin

Copy the following code to embed this video on your site (use ctrl+c / cmd+c):

GoSee presents you ‘The Deconstructed Bling’, a fashion editorial by Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T for HUF MAG featuring the photographer and director born in 1963 in an interview. From 1985 to 1990, Det studied Photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund and graduated with a degree in Photo and Film Design. He has been a freelance photographer since 1990, working in New York, London, and Paris, and lives in Hamburg today. Since 2010, he has developed his work in the area of film and started working as a director and DOP. Det Kempke’s images always tell a story, and his scenic design can range from puristic to very lavish.

What would you say characterizes your work? Is there a signature Det Kempke style?
I think I’ll leave it up to the people who view my photos to decide.

Is it possible to recognize your photos even if your name is not on them?
To be honest, I don’t know. But I do hope so. In my work, which has changed quite a lot over the last three years, there is an underlying idea when creating an image : I always try to create a pure, seemingly simple and credible photograph. Pure. Everything which does not contribute to the story told by the photo is left out and edited. There is nothing superfluous in my photos. Ultimately, editing the photos brings out the final clarity of my motif. Seemingly simple.

Technology, particularly lighting technology, used to be quite prominent in my earlier work. Today, with all of the technical knowledge I have accumulated, I only use as much tech as necessary and as little as possible, in order to be free enough to spontaneously find an photo. Photography for me today is playing with hidden technological possibilities. The technology, however, should NEVER be visible. Dovetailing photography and film, which I have been expanding more and more, also gives my stills an increasingly cinematic look. Credible.

For me, there is nothing worse than superficial, pretentious, unauthentic posing. The person in my photo, no matter what they do or how bizarre the pose may become, must remain credible. Facial expression, body language, posture – all have to be authentic. Particularly when it comes to moving images, you notice right away if a protagonist’s pose is credible or not.

The job is not done until we both, model and photographer, have created an authentic photo together. This means having an absolutely clear head on my part and requires a great deal of trust in the person in front of me. Which is precisely what makes it so thrilling for me.

What role for you, as a visual person, does the atmosphere on set play? Is there music playing? And how do you prepare yourself and the team for it?
A couple of years ago, a client complained to me during a shoot saying : “You aren’t working at all. The atmosphere here is like you were in your leisure time and not on the job.” She was right. I told her that if she did notice we were working, I would be doing something wrong. For me, and I also assume the same for everyone on my individual team, it is a great privilege to be able to take photos. The mindset of everyone around me is “let’s have some fun”. That creates a lightness which seems to levitate above everything else. Besides, I don’t take myself all too seriously as a photographer.

In my work, I embrace the philosophy that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Everyone on set is equally important. Without exception, everyone is supposed to feel comfortable on set, and as they say, get a chance to be “seen”. If anybody needs music, that’s okay with me. Let them play their music. No matter what kind of music it is. Okay, if it’s heavy metal or punk, I would kindly ask them to turn it down a notch during the shooting breaks. Every idea for the shoot needs to be heard on site and considered. How ignorant would I be not to use the thoughts of those around me.

Yeah, in the end, I connect everyone’s train of thought to create an image shaped by the spirit of my team. I NEVER work, particularly not when I am photographing or filming. I spend time with friends.

How important is a mood board for your editorials, and how do you find the title for a spread?
I am a concept person. After all, I did study Photo Design, which includes conception and design. So I never just start photographing without preparation. I always develop my mood boards with a team. There might be a location or an image which triggers something in me and leads to an initial thought or a possible story.

Then I send this initial thought, e.g. to my stylist. Like throwing a ball up in the air and seeing what’s playfully thrown back to me. Developing mood boards or stories is like playing a type of creative tennis. I love to exchange and develop ideas already in the run-up to a shoot.

Each shoot is based on a detailed PowerPoint presentation just as if I were photographing a large-scale campaign. Since everyone is part of the brainstorming process, everyone at the shoot knows what my idea for it was and has contributed their own interpretation. This makes work much more effective.

Then, during the process of shooting, it’s up to everyone to spontaneously and playfully develop the specified scope in momentum and perhaps even discard it if the day of the shoot has something better to offer than the idea developed beforehand. The concept board is the framework within which everyone is free to play on the day of the shoot. The title always results from the story, and sometimes just out of the blue.

In the case of my last editorial ‘The Deconstructed Bling’, it is made up of the BLING of the giant jewelry of Colleen B Rosenblatt and the disorderly location at Play Studio, where all sceneries were standing around disassembled and more or less deconstructed. In the fashion clip for the editorial, I reflected the aspect of deconstruction.

In another shoot for ‘Ebony On Ivory’ (GoSee reported), we had an ivory background against which a model of color was photographed. So ebony skin stood in front of an ivory background. And the title was done.

How do you succeed in creating motifs, amid an overload of digital images, which still stick out and keep on impressing clients?
I collect around 20 to 100 photos every day and save them on my computer. I think the overload of digital images, as you put it, is great because it allows us to find inspiration for our work today without too much effort. I read every newsletter and save all of the photos I’m inspired by. And then I simply take MY photo because the reality at each shoot is completely different than the finished photos I collected for inspiration.

What makes a photo a good photo?
A good photo affects you immediately. It circumvents your brain and affects you directly; it draws the viewer into it emotionally. It creates a movie in the mind of the viewer. A good photo is simple and clear, without unnecessary frills.

In parallel to your fashion shoots, you also produce films. What is the difference for you between the two media and why?
While I was studying, I also took a couple of semesters of Film Dramaturgy as a minor course.
I love moving images because you can tell different stories than with a photograph. Film,
film montage, and film music are more or less the next step to photography. But it is also the challenge. Everyone who makes films and calls themselves a director or DOP, as so many seem to today, should have delved intensively into film editing and film music at some point and operated a film camera more than once.

A photo is only one single moment frozen in time, or in other words, the essence of a final moment of a staged scene. Photography is easy – you pick the best moment and delete the rest. What still works for photos is not enough for film. For films, the entire sequence surrounding the best moment has to work. The edit and score bring in additional narrative dimensions which need to be shown. Working with the model for a film is much more complex.

Besides your fashion shoots, you also work in the area of advertising and are known for your simpatico authentic portraits which are often on display and postered across Germany.
You also regularly have celebrities in front of your lens. How do you get the person in front of you to relax during your shoots? Do you have a secret recipe?
The magic word is empathy. Every person who steps in front of a camera changes; they start to get tense because they want to be good and want to “deliver”. They want it to work. You need to get rid of that as soon as possible. The first thing I tell every model is that the photo is not important. They are important. We have all the time in the world (even though that, of course, is not entirely true as there is always a daily schedule).

During the shoot, I mirror my model the whole time, analyze their body language, tell them what I see in them, and help them to break down all the barriers in their minds. So that we have fun together. Lightness and trust make for an authentic photo.

What for you is the big difference of working with models? Are fashion shoots more relaxing for you, or why do you switch between these two very different areas?
If I’m being honest, I don’t do fashion or people shoots. I take photos with personalities. Sometimes within a fashion setting, sometimes within a people setting. A corporate shoot with completely inexperienced protagonists for me is just the same as a fashion shoot with a seasoned fashion model. So I don’t really switch between the areas. All shoots are basically relaxing for me.

You live in Hamburg, the north is not necessarily a sun-drenched region. How do you plan your outdoor fashion shoots?
We always use Weather Pro and then hope that the app is right. We had a little rain twice this summer, and we even had to cancel once. That’s the north for you.

The past months have taken quite a toll on everyone in the industry. What has happened or changed for you? Did you produce a lot of personal work for your portfolio? As a photographer, are you not completely starving for people, teams, sets, … ?
Starving? No! I was never alone. I took advantage of the lockdowns to intensively continue my training in the areas of film, camera work, film tech, editing and grading. I was quite busy.

I have a close-knit circle of creative friends who have ants in their pants as much as I do. We used the time to produce numerous beautiful editorials in accordance with the corona restrictions. My agents didn’t even know what to do with all the new photos sometimes. Besides, I am pretty low-key when it comes to crowds of people off set.

Meeting up with art buyers and creatives in person is meanwhile few and far between. How have you experienced the past months? Has that decreased further, or have you seen a rise in personal meetings? When it comes to that, Corona has proved to be a turning point. Meeting up directly simply stopped. Everything is done strictly digitally today. Effective as it all may be, it is also very distanced. I hope things will change for the better sometime in 2022.

Are you working on a new project at the moment or planning something new?
I am always working on new projects. The next will be a men’s editorial and perhaps finally a narrative short film. We will see. I just can’t seem to sit still.

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
'The Deconstructed Bling'  Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

'The Deconstructed Bling' Det KEMPKE c/o DOUBLE T PHOTOGRAPHERS for HUF MAGAZINE

 
0
0 Comments