Martin W. Maier: the art of advertising
German photographer Martin W. Maier is one of the hottest names in advertising right now, but his commercial edge has been informed by his art background and, in his eyes, there is a distinct and strong bond between both areas. Richard Goldsmith asked him how he reconciles two disciplines which have very different demands and finds out how receptive clients have been to his highly stylised approach.
The very essence of advertising photography is its commercial edge; its insistence on delivering a message and selling you ‘the dream’ - that’s something which anyone looking to make a career in this very demanding discipline has to take onboard from day one. There is usually a tight brief to follow, which can impose a limit on the amount of individual creativity, making this sector a frustrating place to be at times particularly if, like Martin W. Maier, you happen to be a photographer who thrives on an artistic vision and who relishes the freedom of following an individual path.
Shot on the EOS-1Ds Mark III with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM with exposure at f/5.6 at ISO 100. The lighting here was a fluorescent Kino Flo light, powered by a generator, together with an Arri 1K head.
However, Martin has managed to reconcile the demands of both the advertising and artistic genres, and has introduced some of his unique style into the commercial world which he inhabits to influence the commissions that he’s given by the strength of his personal approach. It has put him in a great place and it means that he’s achieving great success while still satisfying his creative drive; a state of affairs which permanently eludes so many other photographers.
He is refreshingly frank when he admits: “The main reason why I am involved in commercial photography, not to put it too bluntly, is money. My job as an advertising photographer gives me the opportunity to work on my own projects - that’s something I enjoy very much."
Martin explains: "As I’ve become more established in this field it has become more common for commercial clients to pick up on an aspect of my personal work and to incorporate some of that style into the assignments they give me. It’s also worked the other way as well, and my work as an advertising photographer has shown me how to create a nice-looking surface for my personal work if that’s what I feel it needs.”
This dramatic shot for Christa Klubert magazine involved 10 non-professional models with a fog machine and lighting via five Bowens flash heads, plus video lights. Shot with an EOS-1Ds Mark III with EF100mm f/2.0 USM lens; exposure was 1/60sec at ISO 200.
Martin adds: “In the past advertising has tried to look as though it is art, but you need to remember that commercial projects are functional and goal-orientated and they have distinct marketing purposes. Consequently, I believe that advertising and art are two very different systems, but they can refer to each other, which makes it interesting. I’m not the first artist to move between markets: although he’s never actually worked with the photographic medium, Jeff Koons is a notable example of someone who is using advertising themes as an artist.”
The reason Martin first picked up a camera was because he saw photography as an ideal means of expressing his creativity. “It was a good way for me to be able to put across my ideas. I taught myself how to take pictures and then worked on projects which were largely experimental and involved a lot of theoretical consideration. For example, I found myself very influenced by the Czech philosopher Vilém Flusser. Although I haven’t found him an easy person to understand, his ideas about whether photography can work as definite information or not have been really important to me.”
This private project won an ADC Sushi Award 2007 and a London Photographic Association award. Shot with an EOS-1Ds Mark III and an EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens, exposure was 0.5sec at f/4.5 at ISO rating of 200. Martin explains: “Film lights were used to create a cinematic effect.”
Born in Berlin, Martin started his visual career by working as a film designer and there are still striking cinematic influences in his output, particularly the way that he regularly uses continuous lighting from the likes of Kino Flo, Arri and Profoto in his product work for the particular look that it gives him. But early on he decided that still photography was where his primary interests lay and, in 1998, he enrolled on a course at the Best Sabel design centre in Berlin which was designed to teach the background of the craft.
A test shot for advertising; this was taken with the EOS-1Ds Mark III with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM zoom lens. Three flash heads were filtered through softboxes to light this shot in a dramatic style.
“I didn’t stay there (Best Sabel) very long,” he reveals. “It didn’t really work out for me there and I left to develop my own projects for a while; then I signed up to study visual communication and media science at the Berlin University of Arts (UdK) and the TU Berlin in 2002. I left there in 2007 and since then I’ve strengthened my move into the commercial market. It wasn’t something I deliberately set out to do, but someone called me one day to ask if I would do some work for them. Then people saw what I did and asked me to do the same - one thing just led to another. It was quite a slow process and it wasn’t something that I was actively pursuing.”
Martin developed his interest in photography in the analogue era, eschewing 35mm and looking instead at 6x7cm cameras and a Vista 5x4in studio camera with Linhof lenses. Everything began to get turned on its head as more and more clients started to demand digital files. Finally Martin realised there was no alternative but to look at what gear would best meet his requirements in the brave new world of electronic imagery.
“I turned to Canon because the system offered me cameras such as the EOS 5D and the 1Ds Mark III which were full-frame - this was very important to me because they felt more like traditional cameras,” says Martin. “The nature of full-frame also meant that there was more opportunity for me to work with very narrow depth-of-field in order to create certain effects that I was after, particularly if I was using one of the fast, prime L-lenses that I prefer.”
He adds: “I also liked the fact that Canon equipment had a reputation for being so reliable. I’m not a technical ‘geek’ and I see cameras as tools and that’s how I use them. However, it’s reassuring for me to know that if I was to drop my gear on assignment then the chances are that it would carry on working. It’s one of the reasons that I’m not keen on digital backs, because they are very susceptible to faults. I only ever use them if I need resolution for an image which is above the 21 megapixels that the 1Ds Mark III can offer.”
A still from one of a number of ‘artwork/projects’ that Martin has developed.
Having moved to digital Martin’s inquisitive mind looked at ways in which he could utilise the advantages that it offered to create personal work that would be impossible – or at least hugely expensive – to shoot using film.
He explains: “I decided to use my 5D as a stop motion camera for a film project I was working on; setting it to its full 5fps capacity and tripping the camera’s shutter 12,000 times in a single day. I’ve heard of several other cameras which couldn’t have stood up to this treatment and yet I never got a single problem, which bears out what I said about reliability." Martin reveals: "I’m now looking to use the technique to shoot a music video and I may well base this shoot around the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.”
Despite his growing reputation in the advertising world the personal work is still hugely important to Martin, and one of the main projects he’s working on right now involves a process called 'Amorphosis'. “This isn’t my own invention,” he says. “They are distorted pictures that only make sense from a certain perspective or when viewed with the help of optical appliances. Artists have been producing them since the 16th century and I am interested in the active relationship which is created between the viewer and the picture.”
For client Zeitmagazin Leben these images were taken with the EOS-1Ds Mark III and the EF17-40mmm f/4L USM zoom lens. Exposure was 1/8000sec at f/5.6 at ISO 200 – the set was lit with two Arri 2K lights, plus video lights.
The commercial world has yet to tame Martin W. Maier and the importance he attaches to his artistic projects means that he will never sell out. In turn this has enriched his advertising projects and looks certain to drive him on to still greater heights in the years to come.
- Technical
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Martin W. Maier’s equipment:
Cameras:
EOS-1Ds Mark III
EOS 5DLenses:
EF14mm f/2.8L II USM
EF17-40mm f/4L USM
EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM
EF100mm f/2.0 USM
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USMAccessories:
Speedlite 580EX flashgun
Neon light
Profoto flashlights
2x Cine Flows
4x Bowens flash heads
Arri lights
Old video lights
Mini slaves
Lightstands, c stands, wind ups, track systems, u-bangi system
Camera remote control
‘Bouncing stuff’
PC computer
