Lorenz Holder

WhiteWall Ambassador Profile

SPECIALTIES: Action and Sport Photographer
COUNTRY: Germany

The photographer Lorenz Holder was born in Munich in 1979 and is now living in Freising with his family. Holder is an internationally known and renowned action sport photographer who has been working in this industry for more than 15 years. His employers include – among others – companies such as Nitro Snowboards, Red Bull, BMW, and Mini. In recent years, his works have gained increased international recognition, which made him win numerous awards, for example as an overall winner of the Red Bull Illume 2013 & 2016 and a winner of category awards 2019, The Open 2012 or the Pro Photographer Showdown in Whistler 2015. His pictures often invite the viewer to explore. Action sport is often only visible when taking a closer look. Lorenz describes his photography style as follows: “A perfect action photo for me is a scenery picture and/or an architecture photo that a viewer would hang into their living room even without featuring an athlete. Whenever I manage to include an athlete into such a picture, I create the perfect action photo in my opinion.”

Holder’s works are very often characterized by a very high conceptional complexity in which he always tries to take new and creative paths. This is in part also reflected by his shooting methods for which he uses either extraordinary techniques such as infrared cameras or old, large-format view cameras to turn his imagination into pictures.

3 MINUTES WITH LORENZ HOLDER

LORENZ HOLDER - Tracks - 2010 Val Senales, Italy (Athlet: Xaver Hoffmann - Stopturn).

How did you start your career as a photographer?

Actually, I was quite a late bloomer in photography as I only became enthusiastic about it when I was 18 years old. Before, I had made small short films and only switched to photography after realizing that a single photo can be enough to tell entire stories. From this moment, the enthusiasm for photography has never left me, and photography is still my greatest passion and way of self-expression.

LORENZ HOLDER - Bavarian Playground - 2019 Allgäu, Allemagne (Athlète : Felix Georgii).

LORENZ HOLDER - Taking the dog for a walk - 2010 Umeå, Sweden (Athlet: Anton Gunnarsson - Tailgrab to fakie).

What are your sources of inspiration for your picture ideas?

Inspiration does not come by simply sitting at the desk and hoping for creative ideas for pictures. Not much, or even nothing, happens when I take this approach. Picture ideas tend to come to me spontaneously when I see something exciting that fascinates me in my environment. This can be a common place in nature or enthralling architecture. But usually it is something extraordinary that we do not see on a daily basis. Such places and things fascinate me, which makes my mind form its own creation with these places and things. In most cases, I can already visualize the finished photo at this point. To make it real I basically only have to combine the individual pieces of the puzzle.

LORENZ HOLDER - Inception Flip - 2019 Viaduct, England (Athlet: Vadic Scholz).

The symmetrical arches of this viaduct were designed for a railroad line above, however being used in the right light and camera perspective I was able to create this unique shot with my athlete Vladic Scholz.

Which camera do you use?

At the moment I use a Canon R5, but I also use my 4x5 view camera from time to time, especially for personal projects. This is a rather puristic thing that helps me disconnect.

LORENZ HOLDER - Kings Road.

The moment is extremely important, especially in action and sport photography. Do you prepare for your photos in a particular way in order to capture this often unique moment?

Yes, the moment is very important, however, I rather think about the point in time at which a location looks best. The location, i.e. the background of my action photos, determines whether I will like a photo or not. I always try to decide on the ideal timing for a shooting at a given location, for example in spring with an active vegetation or rather in late fall when the leaves have already fallen off the trees and when there are no more flowers. But not only the season is important; also the right time of the day can be an essential factor to convey the desired vibe in the photo.

Where can you be found when you are not behind a camera?

Probably at home, playing football with my two kids or at my small mountain cabin in Austria that I am currently refurbishing.

LORENZ HOLDER - Mystic Flip II - 2015 Caumasee, Schweiz (Athlet: Cedric Romanens - Kickflip).

Why WhiteWall?

I have been a WhiteWall customer for many years and I have always been fascinated by the quality of their products. At WhiteWall I can simply rely on the product looking exactly the way I imagined it.

Product Recommendation: Original Photo Print Under Matte Acrylic Glass & Fine Art Print

My two absolute favorites are the matt acrylic glass with a real photo and the Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl Print.