RB: I need to name two again, since I had my previously mentioned second awakening, and have fallen back in love with photography. JH: Can you describe the first photo you took that you were really proud of? RB:В If had to pick 3 contemporary photographers, IвЂ™d probably say Tyrone Lebon, Suffo Moncloa and David Uzochukwu. His book вЂњA Choice of WeaponsвЂќ really moved me and his idea of using the camera as a weapon really helped me to stay focused on the essential qualities and value of photography, especially during all this post-digital noise and over-saturation. He was the first famous photographer, that really, truly made me excited about photography as an important social and artistic tool. Luckily, not only did I pick Gordon Parks, but there was also an exhibition at C/O Berlin about his lifetime achievements at the time.

During one class we each had to introduce a photographer as part of a presentation, focussing on how they used photography to вЂњhighlight the otherвЂќ. He was my first big inspiration and role-model regarding aesthetic, post-production, the overall feel of his portraits.ДЄfter starting to only shoot film back in 2014, I started to get really interested in the theory and philosophy of photography in the third semester of my studies. When I was around 14, 15, and started to become really interested in photography, I remember that Osman Balkan, a young photographer from Berlin, pretty much blew me away with his portrait work. JH: Who was the first photographer who got you excited about photography? And what was it about their work you liked specifically? Now, after adding around 7-10 additional cameras to my collection and studying вЂњcommunication in social & economic contextsвЂќ at University of Arts (UdK Berlin), I will start to freelance full-time for the first time. That was around Christmas of 2014, and I started to fall in love with photography again. After a while I wanted to be able to work with my вЂњown materialвЂќ, and started shooting from there.ДЄfter moving to Berlin and shooting digital for my first 4-5 years, I actually left the camera untouched for almost a year, before selling all my equipment and getting my first film camera-the вЂњpoor manвЂ™s LeicaвЂќ-a Contax G2. I was very active in the online scene which created content patches for PES (a rival of EAвЂ™s FIFA who didnвЂ™t have a lot of original licenses), where I started creating signatures and wallpapers. RB: During the earlier forum/chatroom period of the internet I actually developed an interest in graphic design before I ever thought about trying out photography. There are worse things in life than indulging yourself in things that you like.JH: Tell me a bit of your creative journey leading up to today. 8^)Д«ut if you like the camera and are willing to accept that someday it will be a paperweight, heck, enjoy. if I can ever afford a Pentax 645D body assuming that they actually get to market with it. (I hold out the same hope for my two Pentax 645 lenses. At least for the Leica M lenses have not become obsolete and the digital M body means future products. but investing over a thousand dollars into a 35mm film camera for which the future is completely certain, and not an upside, seems unwise to me. heck, I bought a two lens, four magazine Pentax 645 kit with a ton of extras recently for the princely sum of $200, which blows away either the Contax G2 or the Leica M on image quality with a negative that's over 3x larger area and darn good lenses. You can get a lot of good gear like this at bargain prices nowadays. Which means that parts, service, and support will soon dry up.

I put Contax in the past tense because it's out of production.

The Leica M4-P and M6TTL worked without my thinking, I just twiddled the nobs, framed and shot. The Contax had (note past tense*) excellent lenses and produced superbly exposed negatives, but the way it operated best I found bothersome and frustrating. But ignoring that, I had Leica M gear prior to having the Contax G2 kit, and went back to Leica M afterwards.

Contax g2 portrait