4 QUESTIONS TO MARC FISCHER

Can you explain a little about how you became a photographer? And please tell us something about your pictures.

I changed careers when I started photography. I had no idea how diverse this industry is. I was still very young and at that time I had the somewhat naive notion that photography was exclusively, or at least to a large extent, fashion photography. That field was also interesting and exciting for me. So I started my own business and landed my first assignments as a photographer in fashion/editorial photography – from that point on, I worked successfully in the fashion industry for many years. 

Picture hanging on a Wall - Photo: Marc Fischer.

In search of myself and a new perspective, I took my first steps venturing on a new path in 2019. I explored my hometown of Düsseldorf in a completely new way. I wanted to take a different angle, to see things that I had never seen before, that no one else had ever seen before. That was how I stepped into artistic architectural photography.

My hallmarks are tidy compositions with strong contrasts and perfect shadows. In the beginning, color also played a big role for me – I was looking for colorful spots in the gray city. However, over time that aspect has increasingly faded into the background. There are more and more images that are not colorful in a strict sense, where, for example, a white building is the focus. But through structures, light and shadow as well as the holistic composition of the image, all of the dimensions that are important to me personally are covered. 

What inspires you? And what do you get inspired about? Movies, books or magazines? Or the things that surround you?

Essentially, I'm inspired by what is around me – cities, landscapes, and now more and more the internet and the right feeds on social media. 

Pciture hanging in an office - Photo: Marc Fischer.

When photographing, I sometimes have something in mind beforehand that I'm specifically looking for, or I walk through a city with an 'open eye' and let my spontaneous instincts guide me. I am extremely fond of geometry; I pay attention to lines and surfaces, light and shadow. A strong, interesting shadow always gives a picture more depth for me. However, each of the images I take also have to catch my eye a second time when I look at the photographs I've taken and want to start editing them. At that point I already have a different perspective on the images, but basically apply similar aspects and standards to decide on an image and the appropriate processing. However, when it comes to the ideas I originally had in mind, certainly not everything works as I had imagined. Or some things that were not yet so compelling for me while I was photographing – I suddenly see in a completely different way and art is created. 

What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

My biggest highlight was, and still is, the response I get to my work in architectural photography. Since I started architectural photography, I've been doing what I enjoy, what excites me. Thanks to social media, my images have spread all over the world. The response has been great and has encouraged me to show even more of how varied and artistic our world can be, if you just get the right angle. I am especially proud of a book project that has resulted from this and will be published this summer. 

White Building - Photo: Marc Fischer.

What are your plans for the rest of the day?

That usually depends on the weather. Today the sun is shining and the conditions for photography are ideal for me, so I'm definitely going out. But one way or the other I will go back to the computer later and finish an image that I edited a few weeks ago and I already like very much. I deliberately left it a bit because it has to prove itself to me again even after a little distance. I might still need to do a bit of fine-tuning. 

And after that, I'll have a well-deserved evening with my girlfriend and cat on the couch! ;-)