online 4.

2009
SIZE.

Excellent prints up to 64 inch width –

from commercial to art prints, for in- and outdoors.
www.epson.de

Epson Stylus Pro 11880 Epson Stylus Pro GS6000

editorial Content

Winning sought-after
awards is wonderful as it
acknowledges the passion
and hard work that goes
into product development.
This is especially true when given by an inter-
nationally recognized jury. And so we were all
the more delighted to discover that our latest
camera – the H3DII-50, launched last fall – was
awarded on behalf of renowned American photo-
graphy magazine “Professional Photographer”
the 10th annual Hot One Awards in early
Reminiscent of
March. The 18 judges – independent, profes-
glam rock and Ziggy
sional photographers selected for their expertise Star­dust, M. Pan­da­
and knowledge – elected the H3DII-50 based lis conjures up very
on overall quality, innovation, design, perfor- glamourous photos
mance and value for money in the category (right and cover)
Medium-Format Digital Camera System. The
award confirms, once again, the world leading
quality of Hasselblad cameras. 04 >> news
The real payoff, however, is when a company
Hasselblad’s latest all-purpose weapon: the HCD 35-90mm zoom
witnesses its cameras performing in the hands
lens · H3DII-50 wins the Hot One Award for best medium format digital
of creative professionals – and we’re not just
camera · Phocus update: new features for Mac and Windows users
talking about the H3DII-50, the peak of cutting-
edge camera design, but the H3DII-31, the entry
model into Hasselblad’s H family. The advan-
tages really stand out in our comparative test
06 >> stardust
with one of today’s leading 35 mm DSLR cam- German fashion photographer, Manuel Pandalis, also worked
eras. Evidently, even Hasselblad’s smallest – the for a long time in the music business. For a contemporary fashion
H3DII-31 – is of a higher league. And experts shoot, he turns to the glam rock mood of the early seventies.
are not only aware of this in theory. Page 22
delivers practical evidence, saying it loud and
clear: the bigger the better! And since the 14 >> Turn, baby, turn
H3DII-31’s dramatic price reduction, now com- It’s a model you don’t get to see every day – let alone have a chance
peting literally with high-end 35 mm DSLR to photograph: Claus Peter Dudek captures the Bugatti Veyron 16.4.,
systems, photographers can opt for a camera the fastest and most expensive sports car in the world.
system that is far superior to 35mm DSLRs. For
an increasing number of 35 mm professionals,
the choice has become a no-brainer. 22 >> the bigger the better
However, outstanding cameras also require
The race of the megapixels unfolds: in an exclusive photo shoot,
outstanding lenses. Fortunately, owners of H
VICTOR compares a 35mm DSLR with 21,1 megapixel sensor to the
cameras can choose from a variety of first-class
Hasselblad H3DII-31. The medium format is the clear winner.
objectives. Recently, the palette was expanded
by an impressive 35-90 mm zoom lens,
merging a pragmatic focal length spectrum
32 >> hasselblad masters 2008
with distinct compactness. Newcomers to the
What does the word passion mean for the winners of the Hasselblad
H system – this one’s for you!
The H system prepares professional photo-
Masters Awards 2008? Take a close look at the very personal and
graphers for creative top performance. Flip to unusual visual answers given by ten top international photographers.
our bombastic Masters spread on page 32 and
discover the sheer diversity with which the ten
winners of the Hasselblad Masters’ Competi-
62 >> Next Victor Online
tion 2008 have interpreted the “Passion” theme The next issue of the VICTOR online magazine will appear on May 1st.
with an H3DII. Immerse yourself in artificial, Let the impressive portraits by South African fine arts and commercial
surreal as well as realistic worlds overflowing photographer, Michael Meyersfeld, capture your imagination.
with passion – the key, after all, to every form of
truly great photography.

Yours
Christian Poulsen, CEO Hasselblad A/S

ONLINE 4/2009 3
 victornEWS
Phocus
Update Boasts
New Features
zoom Lens
HCD 35-90 mm
Hasselblad’s digital imaging software
awards
Phocus reaches version 1.1.3 on Mac
Available Now and 1.0.2 on Windows, introducing
gold for the
an impressive bundle of powerful new H3DII-50
The new HCD f/4-5.6 35-90 mm new features to the photographers
Aspherical is the perfect all-round digital workflow. Both system edi- The H3DII-50 is the best medium 1 |2008
ENGLISH

tool for the ambitious H3D photogra- tions have been designed for full format digital camera in the world! 13 Euros
16 US Dollars

pher. With a zoom spectrum ranging compatibility with Hasselblad’s revo- This was the verdict of 18 indepen-
www.victorbyhasselblad.com

1|2008
from wide angle (83 degrees) to just lutionary HTS 1.5 Tilt & Shift adapter, dent, professional photographers

ENGLISH EDITION
beyond the fringes of the normal neatly displaying in designated chosen for their expertise and know-
lens, the HCD f/4-5.6 35-90 mm not program pan­els all relevant device ledge, to select the Hot One Award
only packs more wide angle punch information, in addition to device for the American magazine “Pro-
than its HC 50-110 mm contempo- information for telephoto converters fessional Photographer”. Based on
rary, it is also smaller and lighter, or extension tubes (optional). A new overall quality, innovation, design,
thus making it a universal lens cut firmware release, supported by Pho- performance, and price/value ratio,
out perfectly for outdoor photogra- cus will equip photographers using the H3DII-50 came first in the me-
phy with the H3D. What is more, the an H3DII with additional ISO settings dium format digital camera category.
Make
HCD 35-90 mm is the first HC/HCD
lens ever made by Hasselblad to in-
800 (H3DII-39) and 1600 (H3DII-31),
as well as rigging all digital H cam-
According to “Professional Photogra-
pher”, Hasselblad’s H3DII-50, armed Up
The HCD f/4-5,6 35-90 mm As­phe- corporate aspherical elements – a eras for compatibility with the HTS with a Kodak 50 megapixel 36x48mm
­rical merges power with compact- real feat considering the large, until 1.5. For customers working with high sensor, edged out competition from
ness. Its zoom spectrum ranges For this issue, 1/2008, VICTOR
recently unfeasible, diameters neces- volume production or via a network, Leaf, Mamiya and Phase One. “We’re
from extreme wide angle to normal by Hasselblad won the Best of
sary for medium format lenses. a simple hot folder concept has been delighted with the award,” Philip
lens, making it a ver­satile tool Corporate Publishing 2008 Gold
No less than the fixed focal added. Any active folder becomes Boissevain, Marketing Manager at Prize; cover photo by Japanese
that will occupy only a little space
lengths made by Hasselblad, the “hot” using the “Export New Ima­- Hasselblad, says. “But Hasselblad photographer Maki Kawakita
in your equipment case
HCD 35-90 mm lays down an ex- ges Automatically”, available through won’t rest on its laurels. After this
cellent optical performance that is the File menu. Thus any file placed in win comes the next challenge.”
backed by Digital Auto Correction this folder is processed automatically, Following its Gold Corporate Pu-
(Phocus) to bring about that extra using the current Export settings. blishing Award 2008, VICTOR’s
drop of quality across all f/stops and In response to requests from muse- editorial staff is also hard on
focal lengths. The “D” in the lens’s ums and galleries using Hasselblad’s the job. Submissions for
name indicates that the HCD 35-90 Multishot cameras for the reproduc- this year’s competition
mm was designed specifically for us- tion of artworks, Phocus 1.1.3 for are already being accep­
age with digital Hasselblad cameras. Mac has been upgraded for confor- ted – we’ll just have to
It is because of this design choice mity with linear curves and RGB, LAB wait till June 24 at the
that the HCD f/4-5.6 35-90 mm and CMYK colour spaces. In addi- award ceremony to see if
is able to combine distinct compact- tion a new reproduction tool allows the magazine can match
ness with optical superlatives. the use of local input profiling and last year’s success. ■
This is an extremely attractive working with a linear response curve.
proposition for newcomers to digital Though now boasting added support
Hasselblad photography. ■ in English, German, French, Spanish,
Italian, Japanese and Chinese, the
Windows edition has yet to catch up
Apart from workflow improvments and with the Mac edition’s scope of opera-
LAB and CMYK color spaces, Phocus 1.1.3 adds tions – something that will happen
support for the HTS 1.5 Tilt & Shift adapter in due time as both versions will be
and shows all adjustments for tilting, shifting continually improved and acceler-
and rotation in the capture info ated. ■ Download Phocus here

A jury of 18 selected experts chose

Hasselblad’s H3DII-50 Hot One
winner 2009 in the medium format
digital camera category

4 ONLINE 4/2009
 Stardust Glitter, glitz and glamor – lovingly reminiscent of the early
seventies, when glam rock and David Bowie’s cult figure Ziggy Stardust reigned supreme, photographer
Manuel Pandalis pulls out all the stops and presents a sparkling fashion show.

photos: Manuel Pandalis

Production: claudia scholtan

H

Skin coloured body piece, collar and bra: Prada; tights: Wolford;
sequinned jacket: Patrice Pepe; fur shawl: Martin Margiela

6 ONLINE 4/2009
 Left and right: dress: Acne; vest and sleeves: Noir; necklace: Chanel;
shoes: Mascaro; tights: Fogal; belt: Martin Margiela

ONLINE 4/2009
9
 Dress: Acne; vest and sleeves: Noir; necklace: Chanel

ONLINE 4/2009
11
 stardust
Manuel Pandalis Catch a bit of glamor – just like Man- taining their contemporary fashion that the whole thing should become spotlight, posing with a fur shawl.
uel Pandalis. After cor­recting the flavor. While Scholtan hangs up even more glittery, Kollien cuts a Next she’s wearing a purple dress by
Photographer Manuel position of Hayley Magnus’ glittered dresses, jackets and trousers by Pra- small bag of surplus sequins from the Paul & Joe. “Let’s try out a geometric
Pandalis was born 1972, in hands for the black & white portrait da, Gucci and Chanel, Pandalis and sequinned bolero and carefully sticks pose, showing the back,” Pandalis
the small town of Brilon/ on page 10, a few sparkles stick to make-up artist Agnesha Kollien, leaf them onto Hayley’s eye lids. proposes. Hayley changes position,
Germany. From 1993 to 1994 the photographer’s right temple. through the 300 page photo book At the Aplanat Studios in Ham- making triangles out of the material,
he worked as a photo assis- The fashion photographer doesn’t “Moonage Daydream. The Life and burg, Manuel Pandalis and his as- and throwing a cool glance back over
notice: he’s fully concentrated on Times of Ziggy Stardust”. Pandalis sistant, Sebastian Böttcher, have her shoulder. Manuel is delighted.
tant before getting into the
his Australian model, bowing, kneel- comments, “there are a couple of prepared everything for Hayley’s “Wow, you look great!”
music business where he
ing and prostrating before her, the pictures we can use as inspiration – big entrance: they’ve put up enough He changes the memory card and
held a variety of jobs for some H3DII-39 in hand, intent on catch- good poses that we can reinterpret.” lights to ensure there will be no when he raises his eyes from the
years in label management, ing every dazzling pose. Even so, the three are in agreement shadows, and that the model will camera they’re attracted to a light box
distribution and event orga- Pandalis has opted for fashion that the images shouldn’t look too appear perfectly in front of a clean, standing by the stairway. A wooden
nization. In 2001 Manuel Pan- photography because that’s where retro-rock. By minimizing the back- even, white background, making frame with 24 bulbs and a lot of alu-
dalis returned to photo- he finds most freedom of expression. drops, deliberately forgoing the use the colors and details of her outfits minum foil. A simple construction,
graphy – assisting various “Virtually anything is possible. Fash- of props from the music scene, and fully visible. Hayley steps into the but very effective when used proper-
ion can and should allow for the per- using a photographic style differing ly. Hayley stands carefully inside the
fashion photographers. He
sonal touch to be included,” he ex- completely from the aesthetics of the box, folds her hands over her head
began his own freelance ca-
plains. Pandalis is the perfect match seventies, they establish a clear dis- and tosses a lascivious look upwards.
reer in 2004. Pandalis’ pic-
for this shoot, whose initial theme tance from Ziggy Stardust. “It should Her shoes and necklace sparkle. The
tures have been published was glam rock and David Bowie’s cult only be at a second or third glance shining bulbs encircle her like spot-
in a number of German and figure, Ziggy Stardust. After all, before that the viewer might be reminded of Left: dress: Gucci; ring: Cada lights surround a rock star. Once
international magazines, and finally deciding on photogra­phy, he David Bowie,” Pandalis explains. Below left: dress: Akris; trousers: Pandalis has captured the image,
have appeared in exhibitions spent part of the nineties working in To create the mood, Kollien’s Mads Nørgaard; necklace: Swa­ the Australian laughs, “I’ll look like
in London, Paris, Hamburg, the music business – in label manage- iBook is playing Bowie music in rovski; fur vest: Diesel Black Gold; the perfect human – half Bowie, half
Berlin and Stockholm. ment and distribution. the bathroom. After Kollien covers shoes: Prada; Right: Paul & Joe Hayley.” susanne schmitt
The changeover from music to Hayley’s eyebrows with thick white
fashion photography went very theater paint and fills her hair with
smoothly, as both fields strongly in- orange hairspray, the model glances
fluence each other. Considering how at herself in the mirror. “I’m starting
well glamor and glam rock fit cur- to look a bit like Bowie,” she says. “I
rent fashion trends, it wasn’t hard for can feel him taking over.” However,
German stylist Claudia Scholtan, to seeing as the hairdo and make-up
find the appropriate designer pieces aren’t supposed to look too much like
with glam rock-accents while main- Bowie, and Scholtan has suggested

Hair and make-up: Agnesha Kollien

with products by Dermatologica
Model: Hayley Magnus/Next, Paris
Photo assistants: Sebastian Böttcher,
Charlotte Klinnert; Digital Artwork:
Valentina D’Ettorre/Happy Finish

www.manuelpandalis.de

ONLINE 4/2009 13
14 ONLINE 4/2009
If you see it, it will only be from the rear, as …

ONLINE 4/2009 15
… it is the fastest street car in the world – Bugatti Veyron 16.4

16 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 17
 Turn, baby, Turn
Photos:
Claus Peter Dudek A superlative sports car: the fastest, the strongest, the most expensive. ti’s last big racing title. Molsheim is
also where the Veyron 16.4 is being
In preparation for the interactive Internet presentation of the Bugatti built today – in a limited edition
of 300. Within half a year follow-
Veyron 16.4 in 3.136 color combinations, photographer Claus Peter Dudek
ing the presentation of the Veyron
spent a week prowling around the car with his camera. 16.4 already 100 of the 300 were
sold. These enthusiasts are spoilt for
choice when it comes to the finish
Claus Peter Dudek began photo- Dudek now lives in Hamburg, and roared and I said: ‘Wow! – what on – the Veyron 16.4 stands out for its
graphing cars when he was sixteen. is a specialist in automotive photo- earth is happening?’” two-tone exterior available in 56
He photographed a friend’s remote graphy and interactive product What is happening is 1.001 HP, colors and 3.136 combinations. An
control racer in a supermarket car- presentation. He has photographed with a top speed of 252.9 mph. It online ‘car con-figurator’ was devel-
park in Swabia, Germany, using a more than 130 cars, many for took five years and 120 engineers oped to enable potential customers
camera bought with money given to rotating presentations on car manu- to develop the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, to select color combinations for
him as a Confirmation gift. When the facturer’s websites. the most powerful super sports car both exterior finish and interior pad-
young photographer held the devel- When the opportunity arose to on the planet since fall 2005. The ding, controls and instruments, at
oped pictures in his hands, instead photograph the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, 1.1 million Euro price tag – VAT not the click of a mouse.
of a flashy action shot of a toy car, he Dudek knew it would be an extra- included – also makes it the most The car configurator required 360
only saw a grey, blurred surface with ordinary shoot: “I love cars and knew expensive serial car in the world. The degree images of the Bugatti Veyron
something fuzzy and white inside. this would be superlative in every name Veyron dates back to a Bugatti and Dudek was the man for the job.
To avoid ever having to experi- way. I was so excited when the truck test driver from the 1930s: in 1933, He photographed the car in a studio
ence such an unpleasant surprise pulled up with the Bugatti Veyron: Pierre Veyron began working as a test in Düsseldorf, Germany, using his
again, Claus Peter Dudek immersed the back opened and the techni- driver at the Bugatti plant in Mols­ digital Hasselblad camera. He had a
himself in the study of photography. cal assistant started this incredible heim in Alsace. In 1939, he won the very narrow time frame to complete
Twenty-nine years later, Claus Peter vehicle with his laptop. The engine 24 Hours of Le Mans, claiming Bugat- the assignment: “I had to shoot the

18 ONLINE 4/2009
 Car Photography

car from the inside, from the outside, the car is exceedingly low and there
photograph details and make it rotate was no jack available to help lift the
seamlessly on the website. Four days car so that the tires, the valve and
were barely enough.” For the exterior logo, could be spun into the preferred
shots around the vehicle, he estab- position. “In car advertisements
lished six main views. Then he shot wheels are normally rotated in such
the halfway positions between them a way that the valves are pointing
which were in turn connected with downward and the logos are level;
further halfway views, for a total of or, one valve is pointing right and
eighteen images for the outer rota- the other left. This is what clients
tion. “Each of the main six views prefer,” Claus Peter Dudek explains.
was composed with individual light- Using postproduction to manipulate
ing, whereas the in-between images the logo and valves into the desired
were given more global illumination. position would have been extremely
Since these blend together with the time consuming – especially in the
turning motion, only the brightness case of the angle – so they photo- Exclusivity down to the very last detail.
values of the car components had to graphed the car as it was. Previous page: pistol grip (driver’s side);
above: control elements on the roof interior;
be in sync and the rest would simply Fortunately, the Bugatti was fin-
below: sound system in the center console
blur,” Dudek explains. Before shoot- ished in bright colours, so Claus Peter
and light switch by the steering wheel
ing the first picture, he composed Dudek could compose the lighting
the images by sketching perspectives without having to think too much
and angles, using two threads to about the backdrop – reflections on
check the changing rotational angle bright paint finishes have less con-
and also the distance from the cam- trast. “And, anyway, a black car can’t
era to the car. really be turned into silver in postpro-
From previous experience, Dudek duction,” he adds with a grin. In the
knew how to achieve the camera end, car configurator specifications
rotation around the vehicle. How- dictated the course of the shooting.
ever, one detail of the Bugatti Veyron After that came the digital imaging
presented the team with a challenge: phase, Claus Peter Dudek dedicated

The center console is made of an

aluminum alloy developed exclusively
for the Veyron. The car’s ignition is
the slick button below the gear stick

ONLINE 4/2009 19
Car Photography

The Veyron’s passenger cab is a lot of time to making the interac- and the brightness levels of the opportunity.” Unfortunately, the ing spatially,” the photographer
manufactured from carbon fiber tive online Veyron presentable from different exposures harmonized – chance to take the super sports car affirms. After fifteen years of digital
in “Monocoque” style. In the various angles. Once the images which was time consuming” Claus for a spin was limited to the hall in photography he is also fortunate
front, this is integrated in a grid received the final retouches it took Peter Dudek explains. which the shooting took place. “Of to be working with a great camera.
frame; in the back, in a con- another three days to get the car to In addition to the car configurator course, we could hardly test the speed Dudek switched to Hasselblad four
struction off carbon fiber, stainless rotate: “Due, among other things, to application, Dudek kept the prospect in the studio, and we all refrained years ago and is especially impressed
steel and aluminum the fairly low studio ceiling, we had of publishing the photographs in a from flooring the gas peddle. That with the high-quality contrast and
to work at different distances and the magazine in the back of his mind: could easily have dug a hole in the sharpness: “The software provides
rotation wasn’t filmed in one flow. “When you have such a vehicle it ground. But what a sound!” he says me with great leeway to adjust the
All the images had to be assembled would be a shame not to seize the enthusiastically. There was no time gradients with extra precision – auto-
The Veyron rides on 20-inch to test drive the car outside the com- motive paint finishes have many
wheels with rims made of forged plex; but car-buff Dudek eventually gradients.” In this respect, the Vey-
steel in sizes 265/35 R20 at the came to terms with the disappoint- ron 16.4 is just like any other model;
front and 365/35 R21 at the back (a ment and now says he wouldn’t have yet, the parting after a week’s shoot
100 percent view of the front wheel wanted to anyway – for fear of dam- was a special moment: “When it left
taken from the above image) aging the car and then having to face the studio it was clear to us that we
the problem of a huge repair bill! would probably never see one again.
What Dudek had no problem with Only 300 of them are being built. But
was “collecting” – as he calls it – all of at least we were able to see more of
the critical exposures for the vehicle’s the Bugatti than its rear bumper!”
rotation. For this he relied on 360- susanne schmitt
degree technology he has himself
developed for virtual presentations,
as well as his pronounced ability
to think three dimensionally. In
school, Dudek had a particular talent www.dudek.de
for trigonometry: “I’m good at think- www.bugatti.com

20 ONLINE 4/2009
 pictures
wanted!
Are you one of the best?
Then just show us what you’ve
got! VICTOR magazine sets the
stage for the best photographers
and is published in six languages
worldwide. Send us five images that
show us who you are. Inspire us and
we’ll offer you a unique platform to help
you reach out to the world. From fashion
to architecture, from fine arts to automobiles
– send us your images of choice and make sure
the quality is nothing short of fantastic.

BE PART
PhOTO: FRAnCIS hIllS

OF VICTOR
www.victorbyhasselblad.com/portfolios
22 ONLINE 4/2009
The Proof ...
ONLINE 4/2009 23
One photographer, one model, one
set, but two types of equipment.
The photo on the left was shot with
a state-of-the art 35 mm DSLR sys-
tem comprising a 21.1 megapixel
body and a f1.2/50 mm lens. The
image was exposed according to
ISO 100, the sensor’s native sensi-
tivity, the aperture stopped down
to f2.0. As the camera was used
in landscape orientation, it had to
be cropped to fit the page and was
flipped about the vertical axis

24 ONLINE 4/2009
Within minutes, the photographer
switched to a different system,
a 31 megapixel Hasselblad
H3DII-31 and its bundled HC
2.8/80 lens. The latter was used
fully open at f2.8 to get the same
depth of field as the f1.2/50 mm
lens at f2.0. Exposure was
according to ISO 100, the native
sensitivity of the H3DII-31. Again,
the camera was held in landscape
orientation, so the image had to
be cropped to fit the page

ONLINE 4/2009 25
The enlarged crop of the image on
the preceding pages exposes the
differences in resolution. The 35 mm
image not only has fewer pixels,
but is limited even more severely
by its antialiasing filter that, while
it prevents moiré, at the same time
reduces sharpness

26 ONLINE 4/2009
 The image taken with the H3DII-31
delivers crisp detail from the center
up to the very corners, due to
excellent edge-sharpness of the lens
even fully open. There is no anti-
aliasing filter reducing sharpness
since moiré is taken care of during
raw conversion in Phocus

ONLINE 4/2009 27
Technology 35 mm vs. Medium-Format

... The Bigger

large image on the focusing screen by To attain the same lens speed, the
a factor of 3.1, effectively delivering a entrance pupil needs to be larger
significantly larger field of view than since with its longer focal length, the

the Better
typical 35 mm DSLRs such as the lens projects a bigger picture, spread-
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III or the Nikon ing the light over a larger area. The
D3. Similar considerations apply the lens needs to gather more light to
to the waist-level viewfinder HVM – sustain a larger sensor, and the larger
it requires a medium-format camera opening has repercussions for the
to project an image onto the focus- depth of field.
ing screen that is large enough to be 3 With the longer focal length comes
viewed from a distance and without a proportionally larger entrance pupil
Everything is miniaturized – computers, cell-phones, even SUVs are the aid of an eyepiece (though there so the lens speed stays the same, and
getting smaller these days. But not everything can be reduced without is an integrated 3.25x eyepiece avail- the larger opening influences the
able as well). depth of field. Between cameras with
losing something essential, high-end cameras being a case in point. different sensor sizes, the f-number
Building cameras around a big sensor incurs benefits that go far beyond Lenses for isn’t a universal indicator of depth
of field – equal f-numbers might
the obvious advantage of accommodating more pixels. big sensors
result in different depths of field. The
Lenses are commonly classified into entrance pupil is a more useful mea-
normal, wide-angle, and telephoto sure: Two lenses capturing the same
by Michael J. Hussmann Everything is getting smaller these is apparent at first glance, and while according to their focal lengths field of view will produce about the
Photos: Robert Grischek days, but sometimes the laws of the sensor as such isn’t even involved which are defined by the sensor diag- same depth of field if their entrance
physics punish those who go too far here, its size accounts for the visible onal. A focal length roughly equal pupils are the same size. A medium-
in their strive for miniaturization. difference. In any DSLR, the visible to the sensor diagonal is classified format lens, even when it was a
In the automotive industry there is portion of the focusing screen corre- as a normal lens because its angle scaled-up version of a 35 mm lens,
no substitute for cubic inches under sponds exactly to the light-sensitive of view corresponds to that of the would produce images with a more
the hood, and what is true of engine area of the sensor – as it must since human eye when viewing an image shallow depth of field at the same
displacement also applies to camera light travels the exact same distance at a typical viewing distance. Lenses f-number since the corresponding
design: there is no substitute for sen- from the lens to both the sensor and with a longer or shorter focal length entrance pupil is larger. To bring its
sor size. And there doesn’t have to be, the focusing screen. With a bigger are telephoto or wide-angle lenses, depth of field in line with that of the
since in the CO2-free world of digital sensor and thus a larger focusing respectively. In a 35 mm camera, a 43 35 mm lens, the medium-format lens
photography there is no penalty for screen, one can design for a bright mm lens would correspond exactly to would have to be stopped down by
going to the max. The full range of viewfinder that fills a large field of the diagonal of a 36 x 24 mm frame, one f-stop. In exact terms, the f-num-
benefits of using a big sensor tended view. Hasselblad’s HVD 90x view- however, since the time of Oskar Bar- ber has to be multiplied by 1.4, the
to be overlooked when megapixel finder magnifies the already quite nack, inventor of the 35 mm format, ratio of the medium-format and 35
alone sufficed to separate the 35 mm the normal lens has been defined mm diagonals, to create images with
cameras from the high-end market. as a 50 mm lens. Similarly, the 80 the same depth of field.
1 Today’s ever shrinking pixel sizes
Synopsis mm is the normal focal length for a The implications of this are two-
mean that even 36 mm x 24 mm sen- • A big sensor is the key medium-format camera, even when fold: First, a medium-format camera
sors have crossed the 20 megapixel the diagonal of typical sensor sizes is is better suited for isolating the sub-
to achieving exceptional image
line and with corresponding resolu- actually shorter – 80 mm corresponds ject against a blurred background
quality.
tion enhancements in the high-end most closely to the 6 x 6 format of the – without limiting the photogra-
• With a bigger frame size
market, the divide is shifting towards original Hasselblad. phers creative freedom, as the depth
comes the additional benefit of
30 megapixels. However, a bigger The 44.1 x 33.1 mm sensor of an of field can be expanded just as
a bigger focusing screen and
sensor will always accommodate H3DII-31 is 1.3 times longer on the easily by stopping down. The limit
thus a viewfinder image offering
more pixels making it a game 35 diagonal and covers an area about 70 is reached only when image sharp-
a wider field of view.
mm DSLRs cannot win, but this percent larger. The diagonal of the ness deteriorates due to diffraction
• Medium-format lenses allow even larger 49.1 x 36.7 mm sensor blur at small apertures, but since
trivial advantage isn’t what is most
important about sensor size. The sen- for greater f-numbers to be used of the H3DII-39 and -50 is 1.4 times one is starting with a large opening
sor diagonal is the main parameter and still maintain a shallow longer, covering slightly more than to begin with, there is ample room
characterizing a camera system from depth of field, but with reduced twice the area of a 35 mm sensor. for stopping down before diffraction
which most of the others are derived. lens aberrations. Lenses for a medium-format DSLR becomes an issue.
Increasing sensor size has multiple • Since the medium-format covering the same angle of view as Second, instead of aiming for
repercussions for image quality since frame size is larger, the digital those for 35 mm DSLRs thus require minimal depth of field, one could
depth of field, resolution require- images don’t have to be a 1.3 to 1.4 times longer focal length. also stop down to get the same depth
ments for lenses, dynamic range, enlarged as much in retrospect, As the speed of a lens depends on of field as with a 35 mm lens, but at
signal-to-noise-ratio, and other fac- improving the resolution of the the ratio between the entrance pupil a greater f-stop. A 35 mm system of-
tors crucially depend on it. But, final image. and the focal length, the entrance ten traps the photographer between
before the first image is taken with • Technological advances bene- pupil needs to be enlarged by the a rock and a hard place: fast lenses
a high-end DSLR one must first look fit all sensor sizes equally, bigger same factor. So a medium-format lens capture images with a shallow depth
through the camera’s viewfinder. sensors will remain on top. is bigger: longer because of the lon- of field, but corner sharpness and
• Comparison shots using a 35 ger focal length and wider because contrast leaves much to be desired.
of the larger entrance pupil. But how This will sometimes remain unno-
First look mm and a Hasselblad DSLR drive
these points home. is it better? ticed when objects near the edges of
2 The difference between a 35 mm A bigger lens, built to scale to the image are well outside the depth
camera and a Hasselblad DSLR can match a larger sensor, captures the of field anyway, but one has to accept
be appreciated by merely looking same angle of view as a proportion- that only the central zone within
through their respective viewfinders. ally smaller lens and shares the same the field of view is actually usable
The medium-format viewfinder’s maximum aperture, yet, its imaging for rendering sharp images. Stop-
greater brightness and field of view characteristics are quite different. ping down the lens would improve

28 ONLINE 4/2009
 AT A Glance
its sharpness but, at the same time to that of a good 35 mm lens will sensors can boast additional mega-
compromise the shallow depth of support a higher resolution sensor. A pixels within the same frame size,
field. A medium-format lens, solely higher number of sensor pixels is a so will their bigger medium-format 1 Sensor Sizes
by virtue of being bigger, has the prerequisite for increasing the effec- brothers. In the end, the difference
Medium-format CCDs
same shallow depth of field at a tive resolution, but without lenses in the number of pixels will always
are up to twice as large
higher f-stop so the photographer delivering sharp images, there is no match the difference in the sensors’ as a 35 mm sensor and
doesn’t have to compromise: the real benefit to be gained. A larger light-sensitive areas. As much as in the future will be even
medium-format solution provides sensor size not only accommodates is sensible without compromising larger. Even the smaller
for the desired shallow depth of more pixels, but at the same time dynamic range and signal-to-noise- sensor in the H3DII-31 is
field and at the same time holds the allows for the construction of lenses ratio, that is, as both factors being still 1.7 times as large.

potential for great sharpness and that project finely detailed images dependent on the pixel size and are
contrast extending to the outer edges onto the sensor, making it worth- thus imposing an upper limit on the
of the image. while to deal with the amount of data megapixel count of a high-end cam-
a high resolution sensor provides. era. An even higher number of sensor
The requirements of sensor and lens pixels would require an even larger
Magnify early
are much easier to reconcile in the sensor. 2 Viewfinders
Creating a photographic print is a medium-format world, especially History repeats itself, as the same
multi-part process: first the lens pro- since the medium-format camera is thing happened with silver-halide
jects an image onto the sensor, then missing the antialiasing filter that photography. In 1982, for example,
this image is digitized and eventually typically limits the resolution of 35 Kodak introduced the new disc film
printed out at the desired size. If the mm cameras well below their nomi- format, for the first time using T-
sensor size is small, the enlargement nal megapixel count. Grain technology for a finer grain
required at the last step is quite sub- and improved resolution. Because of
stantial. For example, enlarging the the improved emulsion technology,
The Nyquist Limit
36 x 24 mm frame size of 35 mm the new small format (8 x 11 mm)
systems to an A3-sized print requires Even when a lens should be able to could compete with the larger frame
a magnification by a factor of 12.4. deliver a finely detailed image show- sizes, but T-Grain technology soon
The size of the focusing screen corresponds exactly to the light-
Starting from the larger 44.1 x 33.1 ing reasonable contrast even at very spread to 35 mm and 120 film. As all
sensitive area of the sensor. Compared to a 35 mm DSLR with
mm frame size of an H3DII-31, the high spatial frequencies, it still has sizes of film benefited from the same
its 36 x 24 mm focusing screen, the viewfinder image of a medium-
necessary magnification drops to to be sampled by the sensor. A sensor technological advances in the same format DSLR is significantly larger.
9.5, or to 8.6 with the H3DII-39 and imposes its own limits on resolution, way, the differences in resolution
-50 and their even larger 49.1 x 36.7 set by the number of pixels. Applied remained constant. Eventually, the
mm frame size. The longer focal to the domain of digital imaging, range of smaller sizes of film waned, 3 Focal Length and Aperture
lengths of medium-format lenses the sampling theorem by Nyquist with only 35 mm and 120 film still
create larger images to begin with, so and Shannon states that we need being in wide-spread use today.
one doesn’t have to enlarge so much two rows of pixels for resolving one The Hasselblad DSLRs delivered
later. This was true in the age of sil- pair of black and white lines – and higher image quality even in their
ver-halide photography and optical that’s an optimistic measure since 22 megapixel incarnation, but the
enlargers, and remains true today. the rendering of fine detail will start current line-up offering resolutions
While lenses for 35 mm systems to deteriorate even earlier. With a of 31, 39, and 50 megapixels – not
need to push the envelope to deliver pixel size of 6.8 µm (H3DII-39 and counting the even higher effective
a resolution matching that of sensors -31) or 6.0 µm (H3DII-50), resolution resolution of the H3DII-39MS in
with ever increasing megapixel num- hits the Nyquist limit at 74 or 84 line multi-shot mode – can boast a better
Bigger sensors need longer
bers, designers of medium-format pairs per millimeter, respectively. rendition of color and tonal values
focal lengths for capturing the
lenses can either relax the resolution The pixel size of a 35 mm DSLR is on top of a much higher resolution, a same field of view.
requirements so they can tighten similar, 6.4 µm being a typical size, so difference even more dramatic than As the entrance pupil necessary
the constraints on other parameters the limits imposed by the sensor are megapixel figures would suggest. for the same depth of field stays
crucial to image quality, or they can similar as well: 78 lp/mm is the maxi- The H3DII-31 shares those traits with the same, the f-number as the ratio
aim for even higher resolutions that mum spatial frequency that a typical higher resolution models; its sensor between the focal length and the
diameter of the entrance pupil in-
are impossible in the world of 35 mm 35 mm sensor with 21 megapixels pixels are the same size as those of
creases with the sensor size.
photography. can resolve. When the resolution per the H3DII-39, but twice as sensi-
A higher f-number reduces aber-ra-
Employing longer focal lengths millimeter is similarly limited, the tive with the angle of view captured tions while retaining the desired
for a larger image, rather than for only way of increasing resolution being only slightly smaller. By the shallow depth of field.
magnifying far away subjects with a is to provide more millimeters – in use of microlenses for concentrating
small angle of view (the latter being other words, a bigger sensor. incident light on the light-sensi-
of little concern in a studio setting), tive area of the pixel, the otherwise 4 Reading MTF charts
reduces the number of line pairs technologically similar CCD in the
The megapixel gap 100
that need to be resolved to achieve H3DII-31 doubles the quantum
80
a certain desired resolution in the The megapixel race continues in all efficiency, i.e. the efficiency of con-
final image. With 35 mm DSLRs, the classes from the tiniest sensors in verting light into electrons. The base 60

resolution of fine detail depends on compact digicams to medium-format sensitivity is ISO 100 rather than 50, 40

the contrast of a pattern of 60 line CCDs. The megapixel gap between values up to ISO 800 being selectable 20

pairs per mm (lp/mm). In a medium- medium-format and 35 mm cam- in-camera and ISO 1600 in Phocus. 0
0 10 20 30

format DSLR, the very same detail is eras is shifting again, from around
MTF curves for sagittal patterns
enlarged by 30 to 40 percent in the 20 megapixels last year to roughly 30
Apples and oranges are represented by a solid line, the
image projected onto the sensor, so megapixels today, but still this gap curves for tangential patterns by a
the resolution requirement drops shows no signs of closing: All sensors 4 Photographers are invited to dashed line. For preventing distor-
to rendering about 40 lp/mm with are based on similar technologies, experience for themselves what Has- tions, both lines should be close or
good contrast. Therefore, a medium- even when some are CCDs and others selblad DSLRs have to offer. For a at least run in parallel.
format lens with a resolution similar are CMOS chips. Whenever 35 mm first impression, we have run a com-

ONLINE 4/2009 29
Technology 35 mm vs. medium-Format

35 mm 50 f/2.0 35 mm 50 f/8.0
parison of a Hasselblad lens against mostly because of the antialiasing fil- The f1.2/50 mm lens of the
its 35 mm counterpart, providing a ter employed to combat moiré. 35 mm system exhibits a
detailed analysis of their performance Hasselblad’s HC 2.8/80, used fully steadily decreasing tangen-
backed up by actual MTF charts open at f2.8 to get the same shallow tial contrast, indicating
and, most importantly, by images depth of field, shows very good con- lateral chromatic aberration
photographed in a special VICTOR trast with minimal variation between as a likely cause
shooting that illustrate what the sagittal and tangential contrast up to
Hasselblad H system can deliver. 60 percent of the image circle and
For a realistic comparison, the just a moderate drop towards the cor-
H3DII-31 with its bundled HC 2.8/80 ners. At 10 and 20 lp/mm, tangential
mm lens had to stand its ground contrast is even better than sagittal The quite visible red fringe run-
against the highest resolution 35 contrast, indicating a high level of ning along the line of the shoulder
mm DSLR on the market in August correction for chromatic aberration. proves that contrast of fine detail
2008 with its 21.1 megapixel sensor Stopping down would mostly be is indeed compromised by lateral
representing the top of the line in its used for extending the depth of field chromatic aberration
class. This 35 mm body was matched rather than for improving contrast,
with an equally top-of-the-line but the Hasselblad lens gets even
f1.2/50 mm lens. The focal lengths better at f11 (equivalent in terms of
of both lenses are roughly equiva- depth of field to f8 with the f1.2/50
lent, the HC 2.8/80 having a slightly mm lens): sagittal contrast maintains
narrower field of view. We stopped a consistently high level within the
down the f1.2/50 mm lens to f2.0 to whole image circle and tangential
match the depth of field of the HC contrast drops only slightly beyond
2.8/80 used fully open. Both cameras 80 percent. Moreover, resolution isn’t
were held in landscape orientation marred by an antialiasing filter. Com-
for capturing an image that almost pared side-by-side, the difference in
filled two facing VICTOR pages (59 sharpness and contrast obtained by
x 38 cm), with only small differences medium-format and 35 mm DSLRs is
due to the different aspect ratios of quite substantial and highly visible
35 mm (3:2) and medium-format even near the center of the image.
(4:3) sensors as well as the slightly The rendition of low contrast
different field of view. Both images detail in the corner of the image
Grab the big guns
were cropped to the size of a VICTOR is suffering from the general
page and with the 35 mm image mir- Bigger may be better, but not every- drop in contrast near the circum-
rored across the vertical axis, these one will be able to afford it. Not so ference of the image circle
images are presented side-by-side on much financially perhaps – when
pages in between the gate fold. All an H3DII is the best tool to get a job
the other images presented here are done it will pay for itself: especially
magnified crops of the original. the H3DII-31 which is now within
Stopped down to f2.0, the f1.2/50 the reach of many professional pho-
mm lens of the 35 mm DSLR shows tographers. There is no denying that
adequate contrast within the central a medium-format kit can get quite
part of the image, but about halfway heavy and bulky; outside the studio,
towards the corners, the MTF curves in sports, wildlife, or reportage pho-
indicate a sharp drop of contrast at tography, one might want to pack a
all spatial frequencies. The decrease smaller and lighter kit, using longer
in contrast of tangential patterns focal lengths for their greater reach
begins even earlier: at the very cen- rather than for improving image
ter of the image which suggests quality. For photographers who can
chromatic aberration as a possible handle the big guns there is no real
cause – indeed we see color fringes choice for there is no way to get
Sharpness isn’t just compro-
within the image. Stopped down to around the laws of physics which
mised near the edges of the
f2.0, the lens is suitable for portrait prevent smaller cameras and lenses
image. The antialiasing filter in
work where contrast near the edges to achieve the same level of quality
front of the sensor is placing an
doesn’t matter, but not for any shots as a medium-format solution. upper bound on the resolution of
making use of a bigger part of the To reap these benefits, all three lens and sensor as a system
image circle. Stopping down to f8 cameras in Hasselblad’s current
results in a much improved sagittal line-up, the H3DII-31, the H3DII-39,
contrast with excellent results up to and the new H3DII-50, are suited
the corners, while tangential con- equally well. All three share the same
trast, especially at 60 lp/mm, doesn’t set of lenses and despite the 10 per-
improve in quite the same way. cent smaller diagonal of its sensor,
Again, this points towards chromatic the H3DII-31 gains all the advan-
aberration as the most likely cause – tages the HC/HCD lenses offer, its
chromatic aberration is most visible sensor cherry-picking the central
at high spatial frequencies and can- 44.1 x 33.1 mm worth of the bigger
not be reduced by stopping down. image circle.
Regardless of the f-stop, actual reso-
lution is compromised beyond even For further information please visit
what is indicated by the MTF chart, www.hasselblad.com

30 ONLINE 4/2009
Medium-format HC 80 f/2.8 Medium-format HC 80 f/11 Interpreting MTF charts
The HC 2.8/80 maintains
good contrast up to the edges
of the image, even fully MTF (short for Modulation Transfer improves contrast by cutting out pe-
open at f2.8 which gives the Function) charts are a handy way ripheral rays, so an analysis of lens
same shallow depth of field of visualizing the performance of a performance needs to take the aper-
as a 35 mm lens at f2.0 lens in terms of sharpness and con- ture into account. Typically, MTF
trast. An MTF chart gives a good measurements will be made with
impression of a lens’s strengths and the aperture fully open and after
weaknesses making it a useful tool stopping down to the optimum ap-
for comparing lenses. When the erture – the sweet spot where aber-
Lateral chromatic aberration lenses to be compared are from rations are reduced by cutting out
is not an issue with the Hassel- different camera systems with dif- peripheral rays and overall sharp-
blad lens; it’s high level of ferent frame sizes though, a couple ness isn’t yet compromised
correction doesn’t need any digital of pitfalls must be avoided. by diffraction. Many lenses perform
correction in Phocus reasonably well when stopped
The modulation transfer function in- down, but the difference between
dicates how the contrast (and thus a good and a merely adequate lens
the sharpness) of alternating black often lies in the contrast it delivers
and white lines vary from the center fully open. When comparing lenses
of the image to its edges. Ideally, from different camera systems, the
the contrast should start out as high f-numbers should be equivalent –
as possible at the center, sloping that is, resulting in the same depth
gently towards an inevitably lower, of field – rather than identical. Lens-
but still acceptable contrast at the es for medium-format cameras have
edges. Huge drops in contrast to be stopped-down by one
pointing to an uneven distribution f-stop if they are to be compared to
of sharpness in the image area are 35 mm lenses.
to be avoided.
Typically, an MTF chart comprises MTF charts show how the contrast
three pairs of curves as it takes changes from the center to the cor-
more than a single curve to paint a ners of the image, i.e. the radius of
The advantage of a higher resolu-
complete picture. MTF charts differ- the image circle. For 35 mm camer-
tion sensor continues to be visible
entiate between the contrast of pat- as, the radius is 21.6 mm while me-
even near the corners of the image,
due to much better edge sharpness terns in different orientations – sag- dium-format cameras have larger
of the Hasselblad lens ittal patterns of lines running from image circles. For purposes of
the center towards the edges and comparison, the distance from the
tangential patterns of lines image center shouldn’t be mea-
running perpendicular. The MTF sured in mm, but as a percentage
curve for sagittal patterns is gener- of the radius. In our charts for the
ally represented by a solid line, HC lenses, we have defined 30 mm
the curve for tangential patterns by as 100 percent.
a dashed line.
Since the contrast of patterns of al-
Corresponding curves for tangential ternating black and white lines is
and sagittal patterns should be taken as a measure of resolution,
as close as possible or at least run the spatial frequency of these pat-
in parallel. MTF curves are also terns needs to be adapted to the
measured for different spatial fre- sensor size as well. The spatial fre-
quencies: patterns of fine lines have quency is specified in line pairs per
a high spatial frequency, whereas millimeter, referring to the image in
the spatial frequency of patterns the focal plane. The spatial frequen-
The high contrast of fine detail of thick lines is low. The contrast cies need to be adjusted to account
the lens delivers can be fully for the different image sizes. For
of high frequency patterns cor-re-
brought to bear as there is no anti-
sponds to the ability of resolving medium-format cameras, 10, 20, and
aliasing filter limiting resolution.
fine detail, the contrast of low 40 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm)
Moiré artifacts are eliminated by
frequency patterns to the overall are appropriate, the measurements
the moiré filter in Phocus
contrast in the image. Generally, at 40 lp/mm being indicative of the
high contrast across all spatial fre- ability to resolve fine detail.
quencies is desirable, but some loss Lenses from 35 mm cameras project
in high frequency contrast towards smaller images onto a smaller
the edges is acceptable as long as sensor, requiring an about 50 per-
low frequency contrast stays high. cent higher magnification in order
Soft-focus lenses with their deliber- to reach the same print size, so
ately undercorrected spherical aber- the spatial frequencies used for
rations exhibit reduced contrast for comparison have to be raised by
low spatial frequencies while re- 50 percent as well, i.e. to 15, 30, and
taining some contrast with high fre- 60 lp/mm, respectively.
quency detail. Stopping down re-
duces some aberrations and

ONLINE 4/2009 31
 r a l r E
n e c t u
G e i t e
r c h p e
A duct d s c a
Pr o / La n
t u r e
Na Art
F i n e m i n g
d C o
UP a n
e l b l a d
H a s s
P o rt r a i t
Edit o r i a l
Soc i a l / W e d d i n g
Fashion
32 ONLINE 4/2009
 r s 2 0 0 8
M a s t e otographe
rs fr o m a r o u n d the glob
e, te n
n or beast,
im p
do
r e
c
s
u
s
m
ive styles –
e n t a r y or staged
,

t e n m a s t e r p h
s s io n ? B e it m a
t h e t e n w inners of
phy , is p a s by
g o r ie s o f photogra le q u e s tion: What n d in g p hotograph e.
Ten ca t e
r e s p o n s e s to a sin g
a n u m b e r of outs t a
t h e “ p a s sion” them
dividual Book prese
nts
riginal spin
on
and ten in lad M a s t e r s
ex t r e m e ly o
h e fi r s t e v er Hasselb 2 0 0 8 w h ich puts an
t war d
s s e lb la d Masters A
the Ha

The 2008 Hasselblad Masters Com- ate about your art, your craft, your ter program, is delighted, “The
petition honoured these ten photog- vision; or the world and people photographs in this book express
raphers out of more than 1,700 en- around you; without this powerful so many aspects of passion: a pas-
trants: Julia Fullerton-Batten, Gregor feeling it’s difficult to achieve one of sion for art and innovation; for the
Halenda, Morfi Jiménez Mercado, the main goals in photography: to people we meet every day; for our
Andrej Kopac, Bronek Kozka, Benja- arouse emotion in others.” most per­sonal thoughts and – most
min An­to­ny Monn, Louie Palu, Hans The images, all captured with importantly – a passion for life and
Strand and Kevin Then. The ten win- an H3D-II, demonstrate the many photography.” On the following 20
ners were rewarded with a new chal- different ways “passion” can be in- pages, the ten Hasselblad Masters
lenge: each was invited to create a terpreted. The “Hasselblad Masters reveal extremely different and origi-
portfolio for an exclusive book using Book 2008”, published last autumn nal concepts of passion expressed
the theme “passion”. by renowned publisher teNeues, is through photography.
“For our first Masters book,” ex- a stunning 250 page large-format
www.teneues.com
plains Christian Poulsen, CEO of coffee table book, handsomely
www.hasselblad.com
Hasselblad, “we selected the theme bound. The book is a worthy frame
which was the driving force behind for the fiery photographs of this
Victor Hasselblad and the company year’s prize winners. ​Christian
he founded, and continues to be Nørgaard – Hasselblad Photo-
what drives our enterprise today: grapher Relations Manager and
passion. Whether it is being passion- Director of the Hasselblad Mas-

ONLINE 4/2009 33
b Architecture
Benjamin
Antony Monn

“There is a lot of passion in the

diversity and uniqueness of contem-
porary architecture to be discovered
– but you might have to look twice.”
German architecutral photographer
Benjamin Antony Monn, 29, wants
to do more than just take pictures
of buildings. He strives to extract
the bare elements of an architec-
tural style and so reveal the personal
signature of the architect. How can
passion be captured in architecture?
Monn started out by questioning
his own understanding of architec-
ture and then embarked on a quest
for contemporary European build-
ings that inspired him. Benjamin
Antony Monn studied their history,
familiarized himself with existing
photographs, and spent a lot of
time in and around the buildings,
discovering his own personal con-
nection to them. He then sought to
capture what he saw in an integral
style, photographically exploring
the structure and material, the inter-
play of light and shadow, the details.
The overall impression is the main-
spring of his creative endeavors:
Making the essence visible – captur-
ing “the soul of a building”.

www.benjaminmonn.com
www.candela-project.de

34 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 35
36 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 37
b Nature/Landscape
Hans
Strand

“I love Iceland – it’s my favorite sub-

ject at the moment – I put all of my
passion into taking my aerial photo-
graphs of the country. The outcome
is a joyful interplay of color and
form.” Hans Strand, 52, sees himself
as a photographer who specializes in
passion – not as a scientific research-
er specializing in photography. He
loves exciting compositions of nat-
ural phenomena, of the wild and
untamed. “Photography isn’t about
capturing what you see, it’s about
interpreting what you feel,” explains
the Swede. Hans Strand finds great
inspiration in the poetic, intimate
photographs of other Scandinavian
landscape photographers. He strives
for extreme sharpness and a broad
palette of natural color. Hans Strand
likes to take his time when taking
pictures – except when he’s shoot-
ing from above. When speed and
precision is essential. “Up in the air
you have to lead the pilot to the per-
fect form – otherwise, you won’t get
a single good shot.”

www.hansstrand.com

38 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 39
b up and coming
August Bradley

“For me, passion stands for strong

feelings, desires and ambitions. It’s
about the most profound and pri-
mordial emotions.” August Bradley
is not turned on by the flowery as-
pects of passion – he’s into darkness:
like obsession and frustrated desire.
The American photographer tends
towards the baser feelings of aloof-
ness, isolation and jealousy. “I want-
ed to focus on those emotions which
feel real and immediate but also
have the odd, surreal quality of im-
ages that exist in our minds,” Brad-
ley explains. In his photographs, all
notions of time come to a standstill.
The elusiveness, stylization and min-
imalism of the images disorient the
viewer who often fails to grasp the
when, how and where of the setting.
We are instead mesmerized by the
characters and their bizarre, time-
less surroundings and find ourselves
repeatedly drawn into their twisted
states of feeling. “Because photogra-
phy can freeze time, you can look at
an event unfolding and see the emo-
tions beneath the surface.”

www.augustbradley.com

40 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 41
42 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 43
b Fine Art
Julia Fullerton-Batten

“The will to survive is the ultimate

force in the universe. This passion is
incessantly being lived out in the ani-
mal kingdom. Humans, on the other
hand, have largely withdrawn from
this everyday battle.” Nonetheless,
Bremen-born English photographer
Julia Fullerton-Batten, 38, is con-
vinced that basic animal instincts
still exist within human beings: a
passion lurking under the surface. To
illustrate her assumption, the fine-
art photographer placed young mod-
els in a forest wearing animal heads
– as modern symbol-laden tableaux
vivants. The heads of chasing and
hunted animals blend seamlessly
with the human body, just as lustful
instincts appear to blend effortlessly
with the more sublime aspects of hu-
man nature. Julia Fullerton-Batten’s
combined use of day and studio light-
ing gives her compositions a theatri-
cal character – like frozen scenes at
the end of an act; a brief flash, and
the battle goes on.

www.juliafullerton-batten.com

44 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 45
46 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 47
b Portrait
Morfi Jiménez Mercado

“Passion inspires everything; it con-

nects us with what we love most and
enables us to do things that would
seem difficult, or even impossible
under other conditions.” Peruvian
portrait photographer Morfi Jimé-
nez Mercado, 32, has a passion for
his people. This inspired him to
photograph the rural lives of Peru-
vian highlanders living in the Andes
province of Cuzco. For a week he
travelled the tiny cities and remote
villages located high up at 11,500
to 13,000 feet. Morfi Jiménez Mer-
cado’s photographic manipulations
remove everyday scenes from their
hard, bleak reality. His skilfull use of
artificial and natural light, together
with subsequent image colorization
– his preferred tones are gold, green
and brown – elevates the common-
place to the timeless. Looking at the
unique interplay of bright and dark,
and the unusual color palette of his
images, it comes as no surprise that
photographer Morfi Jiménez Mer-
cado is a great admirer of renaissance
painters such as Leoonardo da Vinci,
El Greco and Rembrandt.

www.morfijimenezmercado.com

48 ONLINE 4/2009
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50 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 51
b Editorial
Louie Palu

“Passion is whatever we need to live,

love, survive and reach our goals.”
This is what Canadian photographer
Louie Palu, 42, came to understand
when he sparked up a conversation
with a homeless person when he
was trying out his H3DII. Towards
the end of their two-hour conversa-
tion, the homeless man explained
that passion was what humanity de-
mands. “That’s when I realized that
my project could be a vehicle to tell
a story about something that is rel-
evant for cities around the world:
homelessness,” explains Louie Palu.
He spent weeks meandering the
streets of Washington DC: Union
Station, Pennsylvania Avenue, K
Street, Watergate, Dupont Circle. In
the tradition of the Photo League,
and inspired by street photographer
Ben Shahn, he documented what
he saw in no-frills black & white.
Although he occasionally shows
abstract shapes and structures, his
compact excerpts of reality effort-
lessly assemble a striking portrait
of homelessness. In doing so, Louie
Palu shifts homeless people from
the fringes of society to center stage.
“I’d prefer it if the discussion were
about them, not me.”

www.louiepalu.com

52 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 53
b General
Bronek Kozka

“Those who believe are envied and

mocked, praised and decried. Faith is
both liberating and restricting; it of-
fers enlightenment and switches off
rationality. At the heart of it – this
can’t be denied – we have passion.”
Upon hearing about the “passion”
theme, the Catholic-raised photog-
rapher Bronek Kozka, 38, immedi-
ately thought of Christ’s tale of woe.
The Australian photographer with
Polish roots chose to interpret twelve
Stations of the Cross – from Jesus’s
conviction to his death – in monu-
mental, solemn photographs where
he blends harsh light with heavy
shadow and contrasts sharpness
with blur. Kozka reveals that passion
is intertwined with pain and that
mankind’s pain remains a universal
subject. But to Kozka, passion is also
the courage to stand for something:
his photographs are moving and
bound to provoke discussion. “Since
traditional religious symbols are
considered politically incorrect these
days,” says Kozka, “their symbolic
power – and their potential positive
and negative contributions to faith
in human existence – remains un-
explored. In creating these images, I
encounter faith and its results.”

www.kozka.com

54 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 55
56 ONLINE 4/2009
b Social/Wedding
Kevin
Then

“In photography, everything re-

volves around a passion for col-
laboration. Only when everyone
is passionate about their role – and
believes that outstanding images are
being created – can a great picture,
full of passion, be born.” Wedding
Photographer Kevin Then, 30, insists
that not only does the make-up artist,
stylist and light technician function
together perfectly, but also the bride
and groom. It takes teamwork if you
want to capture emotions in images.
But since “love” is not only about
flowers, the Malaysian photographer
insists that the photos include all the
stages of a passionate relationship:
emerging intimacy, first conflicts,
ensuing solutions, melancholic mo-
ments and matrimonial love rituals.
Kevin Then is passionate about fus-
ing once-in-a-lifetime moments into
staged scenarios and working them
into delightfully artistic images. It
makes sense that he came to photog-
raphy through his wife: while pho-
tographing her highly pregnant, he
was so moved by the beauty of the
photographs that he has been infatu-
ated with photography ever since.

www.kevinthen.com

ONLINE 4/2009 57
b Product
Gregor Halenda

“Passion is about finding the beauty

in the everyday.” The American pho-
tographer Gregor Halenda, 42, has
a knack for finding the beauty in
diverse products like perfume vials,
spilled nail polish, raw meat, spoons,
sunglasses, headphones – and of
course, motorbikes. His passion for
motorbikes was staged skillfully
on location in a high-speed shoot.
The still life specialist demonstrates
that he is also at home outside the
studio and comfortable with mod-
els. Gregor Halenda started out as a
photojournalist in his small moun-
tain-ringed home town of Westcliffe,
Colorado. He landed his first title
story on the local newspaper at the
tender age of twelve with images of
rodeo bull riders in action. During his
time at Gregory Heisler in New York,
he learned the most important part
of commercial photography: cre­a­tive
problem solving and technical preci-
sion. Gregor Halenda demonstrates
full mastery of his craft in the artistic
still lifes of his “passion” spread. He
arranged tools and fruits with some
beautifully abstract results – mysteri-
ous images not created in Photoshop
but, rather, using his “bare” camera.
Gregor Halenda’s goal was to devel-
op a technique that looks beyond
this world while maintaning tradi-
tion. “It was a lot of work and quite
painstaking, but I think it was really
worth all the trouble.”

www.gregorhalenda.com

58 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 59
b Fashion
Andrej Kopac

“Passion is admired as a secretive and

inspired condition, and as the driv-
ing force behind creativity. But it
can also be a source of folly, leading
people to overreact or succumb
to self-destructive tendencies.”
From day one, Andrej Kopac, 40,
was enthralled by the ambiguity
of the theme passion and decided,
following in the footsteps of the
ancient Greek stoic philosophers,
to interpret it as something nega-
tive. That’s why jealousy, greed,
fear, worry, and shame are in the
center of his photographic work.
In order to stage such sinister feel-
ings, Andrej Kopac sets up his fash-
ion shoots at unusual places: at
a cosmetic surgery, in a posh French
restaurant and in the cemetery. The
Canadian photographer, who has a
Masters Degree in art history, doesn’t
just want to show fashion: he aims
to draw observers into his work – and
lead them into the moods of his
subjects to inpire them to reflect on
their own feelings.

www.andrejkopac.com

60 ONLINE 4/2009
ONLINE 4/2009 61
Next victor online: 1 May 2009
Be surprised by inspiring portfolios,
keep up-to-date with the most significant
photographic trends, read in-depth
articles on technical developments.
On May 1st, 2009, check your monitor for
the next issue of VICTOR online.

Michael Meyersfeld
>> the South African fine arts photo­
grapher conjures up expressive portraits

multi-shot images
>> higher resolution, improved
color, and natural picture effects

David lynch
>> the captivating Imprint
photographic worlds
of the cult director VICTOR online | 4/2009
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62 ONLINE 4/2009
 Photo: Marco Grob
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Taking Photography Further