Ludwig Thalheimer Fotografie

Reviewer Feedback

Soeben erhalte ich das Reviewer Feedback zu meinem Beitrag bei den LensCulture Portrait Awards 2016:

Hello Ludwig. It is a pleasure to review “One Big Family.” This is a witty and well done set of street portraits. Your aesthetic is clean, consistent and quite beautiful. Your concept is intriguing and really solid. I have a few comments and suggestions: Your idea is very evident to me. I like it a lot. There are some outstanding subtleties in this project (please see my paragraph below). I personally believe those subtleties resonate well upon a good viewing. However, since reviewers in these contests are looking at thousands of photos, I recommend offering them a little more information in the statement to help lead them to your idea quicker. I’m not suggesting you offer too much, but enough so that they can make the connections you are seeking. Once you lay the groundwork for your concept (the relationship between the subjects in the left and right pane), I would recommend really challenging - as in looking further for these beautiful and odd connections that really tie us together into “one big family”- the connections between the left and right people. For example, I love 2 and 4 because you are creating connections across race and religious identities. Perhaps you are doing a little bit of a crossover of class/wealth in 9 and 10. I like those a lot too. Of course you are doing age too. I even like the diptychs where I can’t see the connection between the two subjects. For example, 3. I don’t get that one. But I like that I don’t get it because it makes me feel like there is something that I am not able to see but that is probably there (since you have succeeded so well in the others). That’s a fascinating concept and a nice idea to pepper in throughout the larger series (as in, when you complete this series and it is made up of 20+ images... I’m guessing). Also, I would mention somewhere in your statement or captions how you would exhibit these works. Are they prints? If so, what size? What are they printed on? i.e. digital inkjet on photo rag, or something to that effect. If you do this, you will give jurors a better sense of how they can envision this work in their world... and even if you don’t win a contest you may get interested curators or galleries to pursue your work. I recommend continuing this body of work and once you have 15-20 of these images you could consider attending some of the portfolio reviews I have listed below. This type of work is perfect for galleries and museums. Also, not sure if you are interested in commercial/advertising work, but I recommend showing your work around in this capacity too (if you aren’t already). I also recommend considering making a small book of these images. There are many on demand publishing websites that could help you produce a really nice book. It was a pleasure to review your images; they are excellent. Best of luck!