“I love these models with character, there is nothing more exciting to me than a person who can cast a spell over you with their expression.” Today we have the pleasure to present you Kurt Salhofer – fashion photographer from Austria – and show you some of his recent work – and also a small Backstage view behind the scenes…

Alright,  tell us who you are, where you are from and what your current job is?
Kurt Salhofer and I was born in Ried (Austria) – I am a photographer.

You are living a bit outside of Vienna- how did you get into photography from there? You have got an education in that field, right? I have done my training inVienna, at Sirotek, which was a very cool place of education, and I have to say thanks to all the people there who have always supported me! I have learned everything there from scratch, Black and White & Colour development, all types of development, reproduction, lamination, studio… and it was never a problem to borrow a Hasselblad for the weekend or use the studio for personal projects – I very much appreciated that… I was studying biology (botany) in Vienna before that, but a climbing accident put me out of action for a year and in that time I also realized that this wouldn´t be my future. I then applied to Austrian Airlines to be trained as a pilot – haha! Fortunately, I have to say now, I was a year too old for their trainee program.

So after that, I was looking for an apprenticeship as a photographer and arrived at the interview at Sirotek with crutches. I will never forget the first question of my former boss when he asked me „Why you want to be a photographer?“ and I answered „Because it is a creative job!“ He then started laughing, telling me that it is anything but creative… but I still think nowadays, that it is a very, very creative job.

I had the support from my parents too, because as a photographer you don´t have a wage agreement, so that ment minimum wage as a trainee. It was around ~2.700 Schilling in the first year and you can´t get very far with that…

In your opinion – are there any differences in the quality of photography when comparing Vienna to other parts of Austria? Are there different scenes? To be honest, I have never experienced the scenes in other states of Austria, in particular the fashion field – I think Austria is too small for that…

Seeing your portfolio you mainly photograph fashion – is there any reason for that? What is the attractive thing about fashion for you? Could you also imagine taking images from different areas, like architecture? For architecture I have no patience! *laughs* Ansel Adams once said, that he learned to be patient through photography – I think it is the opposite for me.

“It is really what I appreciate so much, that within a fraction of a second you are able to capture a moment and then another new one…”

…that surely is a good reason to be into fashion photography but above all it is the aspiration for aesthetics and also „lively aesthetics“, compared to architecture… *laughs*.

What else I can imagine is to photograph musicians – this is yet to come…

Are you going to fashion shows or are you engaging yourself with fashion apart from photography?
I don´t really go to shows, but of course I engage myself with fashion and design, magazines, books and so on..

Are there any photographers or other artists who inspire you? Or where else do you get your ideas and your drive from? Yes, sure there are some and in parts I get my ideas from them, but in other parts I have my own perception and then I convert those ideas into pictures. If you like, my big role models are Bob Richardson – a real grand master of moments and I would class him higher than his son Terry, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Albert Watson, Avedon and many more. Generally speaking I would say that it is artists, that were or are not primarly concerned with fashion photography but want or ed to tell something with their pictures…

How is your way of working- are you someone who has a clear picture in mind about the location and then looks for a suitable model or you just have a rough idea which you then convert into an image through the shooting? Of course I have a base frame about the image in my mind. But it also happens that I have an idea in mind and then arrive at the location and it is not possible to realize it that way – be it because of the weather or because the model is different than I imagined, or the clothes don´t suit the style I imagined… Then it doesn´t make any sense to hold on to that idea and I try to approach the shooting in a different way, something that suits the moment and the mood.

On what basis do you choose your models and what makes the “right” model for you?

“I love these models with character, there is nothing more exciting to me than a person who can cast a spell over you with their expression.”

Of course the measures should be adequate, but I can´t do anything with a model where the body is perfect but she has no expression, posing…

Do you always work with the same assistance-team at shootings or you always work with a different one? Partly with the same, partly with a different one. I also find it exciting to work with a complete new team.

How can we imagine the normal “daily life” of Kurt Salhofer?
First of all I go for a walk with my dog, I don´t mind if f.e we have to get up at 5 a.m. already and walk in the dark – the dog does mind though *laughs*. Then I check my mails while drinking a coffee and then it depends – shooting, Mac, etc… In the evenings I like to cook in order to switch off.

How do you work – are you one of those photographers that gives instructions accompanied by shouting and gesticulating or are you working quietly? And – how many pictures do you take at a shooting? There are many photographers that take hundreds per set, others just a few…? During the first images I check how the model works and if all is fine then I almost don´t say anything at all during the complete shooting. In any other case I give subtle instructions. In general, I think that if a certain pose or expression is not included in a model´s repertoire then you will not be able to get that or you shouldn´t force it, because the result will always just be a compromise and no one wants that. The number of pictures vary depending on the set, but in general nowadays I take more pictures than I used to, so there can be a few hundred pictures…

Has there ever been a shooting where everything went wrong? And how was your first real shooting in the year dot? What was it like and how did you feel like – was it succesful? Well luckily so far nothing went really wrong, but of course there have been borderline moments, where I almost discontinued the shooting.

For example, a catalogue photo series where we were not, and couldn´t have been, aware about the on-site conditions. Luckily everything turned out all right, but I wouldn´t do it again. My first big job was an advertising campaign for an energy producer, that was really cool and at that time on 6×7 cm, – it was a good feeling to look at my first big posters hanging all over the country!!!

A lot of your pictures are taken on location – and less in the studio – is there a reason for that or is this just coincidentally? Do you have your own studio? Yes, I have my own studio, but speaking honestly it is more my flash units standing around in there. I think that usually I tend more to photography on location and the main reason for that is that it provides uniqueness!

In contrast to the new generation, you have experienced the analog photography – many people think that with the flood of digital images there is also an oversaturation – do you share that opinion? Does a bit of the „charm“ fade away because of digital photography? Of course we have an oversaturation and flooding of not only images, but any sort of visual, accoustic and other stimuli – the problem with that is to recognize the important and interesting ones and to filter out the other ones. In the meantime that is hard work – just think about Facebook.

“I think that there is still this charm of photography today, but the charm has just become a bit different.”

But something has to be said – the „charm“ was not always that much fun, you often had a stomach ache after a shooting, especially when the lightning had been complicated, etc… of course you had polaroids for checking purposes, but on a set where the conditions changed fast and you knew that the model had this expression now and clouds and sun were changing all the time, then you have 5-6 shades difference that you had to correct feeling based and in case you also exposed on dia then the scope for wrong exposure was not very wide. Then you also had to wait for the photo laboratory component and also there things went wrong from time to time.

One of your last shooting had been “19. arrondissement”, a black and white series that came into being in Vienna – also on unusual places. Can you tell us a bit about that…? Where did the idea to this set come from and how did you find the locations? Were you consciously looking for the right place – or is it a mixture of ideas and knowledge that there is an interesting location that you want to use? Yes, that was interesting. The main idea was to use an old Viennese cinema or Beisl (Pub) as a location and I couldn´t really think of a lot spontaneously, because most of them have been renovated or closed down, which I think is a pitty. With this whole adaptation onto standards and restrictions nowadays, a crucial charm of Vienna gets lost. Anyway, then I thought of a place that I knew very well from my times as a student, so I enquired and got an immediate reply – something that I didn´t expect and that I really, really appreciate. The only problem was that the location had business as usual while we were shooting and because it is a small place, I was quite worried of how that would work and how the visitors there would react… well my worries had been needless, because the visitors all had been very nice and helpful…

But I knew in advance that this location didn´t have enough possibilities for the planned style and then I remembered the stairways of a friend of mine in Vienna where I always wanted to take pictures, so we had a second location for that day!

Not only this series is very revealing – is it easy to find models that are revealing or is that an obstacle when looking for models? That has not been easy and is definitely a big obstacle, in particular when you demand high standards of models, like I do *laughs*. Here I would like to say THANK YOU to the agencies and models that have been doing a great job and I know that it is elaborate and I really appreciate your efforts!!!

Is there any sort of shooting that you would like to realize but it is so odd, elaborate or crazy, that it will just stay an idea? To convert a picture from Pieter Brueghel á la fashion and also doing this in a barren area, that has been a long dream of mine. However to realize this I would need an army of artists, models, costumes etc., so I assume this will stay a dream…

Right now you are active in Austria – are there plans to be also active in other countries as well? How can we imagine your future? Good question – and for sure the most difficult one to answer at the moment. I think I can tell you more about that in 1-2 years…

What has been the best life lesson so far?
To live in the here and now.

What is the most important thing for you in life…
Health & Happiness

The classical question- 5 things you cannot live without?
Pasta, Music, DVD´s, Travelling & the Simpsons

Mac or PC? And- what camera are you using?
Mac, Canon & Hasselblad

The last question – what hobbies do you have besides photography?
My dog, playing the guitar and cooking

Kurt, thanks for your time!

Portfolio:  www.kurtsalhofer.com

Interview by Emanuel Sprosec
Translation by Sigrun Guggenberger