Zürich, Hamburg, Berlin — und die Frisur hält.

Last week, I spent a few days in Hamburg and Berlin for portfolio rounds. I had 18 appointments with photo editors in three and a half days, and I expected the trip to be very tiring, but it actually turned out to be exhilarating. I was impressed by the high level of professionalism and the journalistic mindset, coupled with warm welcomes and German wit all around.

In Switzerland, editors are often trying to gauge whether or not you’re able to shoot for their publication — able in a technical sense — whereas in Germany I felt this was completely beside the point: If you weren’t able, they wouldn’t have granted you the appointment in the first place. So there was ample time to talk about stories or general fields of interest rather than just the plain “are you good enough to work for us?”

 

Once, a lady told me during a portfolio meeting at a Zurich agency that she wasn’t interested in my personal work, only in commercial stuff, and that I should please mention the clients along with every single picture I showed her. While this is certainly an extreme example of Swiss precision and insecurity, generally in Germany (as well as in London and NYC), people were more interested in my free work, because, I think, they are interested in photography and journalism in general — as they should be, being photo editors! There was less of an atmosphere of “what do you, photographer, want from me” rather than “what can I, editor, get from you:” Can I get a new story idea from you? Can one of the stories you’ve already done be adapted to something my readers would be interested in? What are you working on in your free time? Are you planning any big trips during which you’d be able to shoot for us? etc. etc. It was eye opening and so, so motivating!

Detail at the STERN photo desk, Hamburg

The funky SPIEGEL cafeteria, Hamburg

Sunny breakfast in Berlin!

A sunny second breakfast, also in Berlin.

On the train between Hamburg and Berlin… I can’t resist posting a pretty picture shot from a train.