Philipp Paulus, Wunderkind
Brilliant fashion photography speaks across all languages. In this way, young Philipp Paulus is completely fluent, communicating easily with fans around the globe. Born, raised, and currently living in southwest Germany, Paulus is all of 18 years old. His photographs look as if they were done by a photographer who has shot professionally for 18 years. What’s even more remarkable is how limited his experience has been. “I bought my first camera in 2008 and have only photographed once every two months,” reports Paulus.
©Philipp Paulus
Leaping right into professional fashion photography has not been easy for Paulus. “There aren’t many creative people, inspiration, or good partners for a team in southwest Germany,” he says. “That’s the reason I can’t do my shoots here. That’ll change when I finish high school.” An autodidact, Paulus has done no less than teach himself fashion photography. “I looked at many fashion magazines and tried to guess the lighting setups to educate myself.”
©Philipp Paulus
With corporate clients such as German magazines, a radio station, and a European fashion department store chain, Paulus doesn’t find his age to be a handicap. “On the contrary, they are pleasantly surprised,” he says. “There are also a few companies that have helped me because I’m a student. For example, I’ve gotten student discounts, but those companies are in the minority. Most companies advertise to promote youth, but really do nothing for it.”
©Philipp Paulus
When asked about his subject matter, Paulus will be sticking with fashion and beauty shots. “I love fashion in combination with art. It’s my life and my own world. I love surreal art in photographs, and I love a lot of saturation.” Of his trademark dense saturation he says, “The important thing is a correct exposure and to work in RAW. You can then manage the saturation better in postproduction. Working with masks and Hue/Saturation controls will prevent blown-out areas.”
©Philipp Paulus
Paulus reports he shoots both film and digitally. “I love the labor of shooting in film—scanning the negatives and final retouching. It’s so amazing. I love the blurred look of very cheap analog cameras. Both digital and film have advantages. I’ve never lost a negative, for example, but I sometimes lose digital images. The advantage of digital shooting is having more control over the photo than film. I love both techniques. I hope film never dies out.”
©Philipp Paulus
Regarding hardware, Paulus is also passionate about what gear he works with. “Because I don’t shoot near my hometown, I rent most equipment.” He shoots Canon cameras and lights with Profoto. “At home my basic lighting equipment is Profoto,” he says. “I use Profoto ComPacts for my studio shooting and the Pro-7s 2400 for outdoor lighting. I like to rent the Profoto giant reflectors for very nice, fine light.”
©Philipp Paulus
Regarding his approach, Paulus says, “I like to live my idea I’m going to shoot. The photo should tell a story and not just look beautiful. Just as I search out the team, I imagine a model to visualize the idea. Then I search agencies for a long time until I have someone who looks like the model I’ve imagined. When I shoot for clients I often have instruction to bring my own look to the photo. Some clients give me total freedom. Others give me a few guidelines.”
©Philipp Paulus
A healthy sense of humor is evident in many of Paulus’ photographs. “Life is too hard to go through without humor, you know,” he says. “I like to create my own world in my photographs. It should be a colorful, surreal world, without problems—full of humor and fun, but it should also be unpredictable, especially the fashion part.”
©Philipp Paulus
Although we may not know what to expect from Philipp Paulus in the future, we can be sure it will not only be unpredictable, but also the quality of a photographer more accomplished than his years.
Written by Ron Egatz
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[...] welches gestern auf dem offiziellem Blog veröffentlicht wurde. Unter folgendem Link zu finden: http://blog.profoto-usa.com/?p=672 Hat mich gefreut, an dieser Stelle nochmal viele Grüße [...]
love you works! <3
lynn
love your works! <3
lynn
Nice to see new talent emerging. Well done!
Amazing work for such a young talent. I am looking for new studios lights and this post pushed me over the edge to Profoto.