Lately in Arcangel we have noticed how young german photographers are contributing with beautiful and fascinating images. The concepts and style look almost the same: lonely characters in the woods, surrounded by nature, feeling lost, wild or enchanted by Mother Earth. We wanted to speak with four of these young talents to discover what inspires them and put the evidences on the table that make them different.

Featured image: Alexander May AA1475433

Anja Schoenitz is a 26 years old self taught photographer and lives in Berlin  Anja’s Arcangel portfolio

Katja Kemnitz  is a 31 years old mother of two children. She is autodidact, photographer and editor for a photo magazine located in Bonn. Katja’s Arcangel portfolio

Alexander May is 26 years old. Originally from a small backwater town, located near the baltic sea, now he lives in Berlin. He studies History and Archaeology and never had a proper photographical education. He is a self taught photographer or rather learned everything he needed from his girlfriend, who is a portrait photographer herself. Alexander’s Arcangel portfolio

Jonas Hafner is 31 years old. He was born in Germany and studied medicine. Currently he lives in Hamburg, working as a doctor. He was living in Scotland, New Zealand and Sweden. Besides photography (self taught) he is into music (playing the guitar and the cajon), traveling and sports (soccer, climbing, hiking). Jonas’ Arcangel portfolio

1-Two photographers that you admire.

AS: Marta Bevacqua and Marat Safin

KK: There are just too many photographers that I like and whose works inspire and astonished me again and again.

AM: Alessio Albi and Alex Stroh

JH: Marat Safin and Oleg Oprisco

2-Two resources that give you ideas and inspire you.

AS: Instagram and everyday life.

KK: I draw much inspiration from the forest. The silence, the colors – I just feel safe when I’m in the woods. That’s why I’m often alone in the forest to take self-portraits. I enjoy the peace and silence around me, avoid the gaze at the clock and just take pictures.Because of its diversity, the forest gave me countless photo ideas. Once I started taking photos there, I suddenly saw pictures everywhere. This work is incredibly relaxing.

AM: Instagram and odd situations where you’ll find your head empty and grasp the first stupid but somehow most appealing idea that comes to your mind.

JH: Instagram, Flickr

3-Two things that you think are the hardest part of your work.

AS: Being creative is sometimes very hard for me. I couldn’t find a second hard part.

KK: If I have an image in my head that I want to bring to life, I make almost everything possible. I go at minus temperatures in the water and wandering for hours to find a suitable location. This I would never expect from a model. So I have to do it by myself. Remain true to myself, but not standing still and evolve is also very hard sometimes. In particular, when I see so many other good artists. That’s a lot of pressure.

AM: Achieving the style in post editing that first comes to my head, even before I’m going to shoot and getting the viewer of your works to feel the same emotions and intentions I felt, when I took I the shot.

JH: Not giving up when things don’t work as planned and not doubting your own abilities.

4-Two things that you think are the best part of your work.

AS: The people I get to know through photography and the fact that photography makes me often feel endlessly satisfied. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for this opportunity.

KK: I have met wonderful people because of my work. People who are not afraid to share their creativity and ideas with me. People who see an enrichment in company and no competition. People who give me advice and help without expecting anything in return. People who share my obsession and do not laugh at me when I’m dancing on the street in pink princess dresses. People who stand in front of my camera with confidence, even if I have strange poses and ideas. People who write to me that they like my photos, support me and therefore always give me a new reason to take the camera in hand. Thanks to my work, I am my own boss, flexible and can be creative. This is wonderful and I would not miss.

AM: Being able to meet so many new faces! Some of them became good and close friends.To actually express your way of observing and feeling situations and to transport it into a medium, that is not only permanent in your head but accessible for everyone.

JH: Realizing that you inspire people and pictures you like to look at time and again. 

5-Two people that you would love to work with.

AS: I would love to get to know and work someday with the photographer Ryan Muirhead, and I would love to portrait the band Explosions in the sky because their music means so much to me.

AM: The model Erica Vitulano and I’d have loved to portrait Market Irglová and Glen Hansard when they formed the music duo Swell Season.

JH: Marat Safin and Oleg Oprisco

6-Two emotions that you hope viewers get from your photography.

AS: Serenity and tranquillity.

KK: I always try to tell stories in my photographs. I just hope people feel entertained, even if there are often sad, thoughtful stories.

AM: Awe for Mother Nature and entrancement.

JH: Calm and happiness.

7-Two pros and two cons of Photoshop and other post edition apps.

AS: Pro: The opportunity to bring out the essential emotions and elements you’d like to enhance. No cons.

KK: I think for artistic photography, there is no contra for image editing. Even at the beginning of photography they could so much modified afterwards in the darkroom. This is not new in Photoshop. I just like to adjust my images. The reality is often a little boring, so I change them for my stories. But I also understand when photographers everything already want to make perfectly during the shooting and have great respect for them. And in photojournalism or similar areas image editing is much more critical of course.

AM: Pro: First, achieving nearly everything in composition and design. Even the weirdest and oddest impressions you could think of. Second, intensifying the parts of your shot you want the audience to remember, take a closer look or at least to notice, because you think it’s special! My only con is editing with photoshop just takes so much time to get the hang of it all.

JH: Pros: Your style defines itself not only by how you take pictures but also by how you edit them and of course, It’s fun.However, sometimes pictures lose their specialness, when there is too much editing going on. Furthermore, certain effects get boring, if everyone is using them.

8-Two pros and two cons of social media influence on photography these days.

AS: Pros: You get endless inspiration from these sources and you have the opportunity to network with so many incredible artists. Cons: Sometimes, this depth of creativity and great realizations may cause a certain dissatisfaction with your own works.

KK: The networking is so much easier. I can not imagine how hard it must have been earlier, to find models or like-minded photographers me. I also learn so much from all of these possibilities in the social medias. However, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the pictures. This also makes a large pressure. Often I feel small and bad because I see all these good images at once.

AM: Pros as reaching a broad audience all over the world and also networking between photographers and artists in general. However, a lot of strong photographers put themselves under high pressure, for maybe not getting enough likes, for comparing their works with others, and they shouldn’t. Every artist expression will be unique in its own way. Facebook, Instagram and co. are a mainfactor that so many good photographers have set for themselves, collapsing under high expectations as a result.

JH: I think good points would be getting to know creative people and pushing yourself to new limits. Nevertheless, people try to please other people, and avoid trying out new things, also success is not only about quality anymore.

9-Two pros of stock photography.

AK: It’s a platform to connect with clients and possibility to make your own pictures more popular.

KK: I’ve unfortunately too little experience with stock photography, to write something about this question.

AM: Being able to sell your work on a large scale for a larger audience and to give the responsibility for selling and licensing in actually firm and solid hands.

JH: Earning money doing what you love is a wonderful thing.

The images posted have been chosen by these photographers as their favourites from Arcangel .