Marc's Bio

Since a year I focus on people and portrait photography, something that really satisfies me. I enjoy communicating with my models to develop ideas and make them feel to be part of the process. Many of my sessions go a very spontaneous route. I never try to force my models in a certain direction. If I feel they get bored or uncomfortable or it simply does not work, then I do not push it, I take my time. I think that’s an important part of getting believable portrait. The slower way of taking photos with film also helps to set a more relaxed mood. Many of my models did not take part in analog sessions before and I often hear how much they like the slower flow and that it is not necessary to take hundreds of photos to get that “one” great shot you aim for. Of course I understand that for commercial jobs this does not always work, although my approach helped me a lot in the past getting jobs done in a very satisfying way. I love to play with available light and this is also why I love film. Film “feels” light. It embraces and touches it. Combine that with a large format print on the wall and you know why you are in love with film photography. Photos need to be printed, even if you put them in a box after that. Nothing beats holding a print in your hands. And no, I’m not anti iPad/iPhone or digital, I’m a tech nerd actually.

I take my inspiration from the large Flickr community, photo books and blogs I read. I adore the photography of Rüdiger Beckmann, Jan Scholz, Hengki Koentjoro, Jochen Abitz, Jan Bishop, Magda Andrzejewska and the artistic perfection of Vernon Trent. There’s many more and I did not mention masters of the past on purpose. I have to say though  that the “analog” friends I made in the last two years influence and inspire me a lot too, not always through their photography but trough the mix of styles they bring together. Thanks guys!

My plans for the future are getting into large format photography now, I recently acquired a Graflex Speed Graphic, starting “small” 4x5 and combine art and photography way more with some alternative print and development processes. I guess that is also the graphic artist and that unstoppable curiosity in me that wants to do this :) We will see, maybe a small exhibition too, for now I’m super flattened by all the positive feedback I got this year.

Marc von Martial