Michael Schulz’s work expertly combines portraiture Industrial and Corporate photography. In short, he excels at capturing professionals on the job while, at the same time, exploring their personalities. Based in Weinstadt, Germany, and trained at Filmacademy Ludwigsburg, Michael brings a cinematic yet minimalist approach to his imagery. He utilizes this background to make a sharp selection of locations that best showcase the day-to-day world of his subjects. Michael is versatile within the range of individuals he has covered, leading to many portrait assignments from the Frankfurt-based newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His experience photographing people in leadership roles led to an assignment photographing Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum.
Taking place at the Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, the shoot involved two locations: one was a simple meeting room. This was where Michael captured images of an interview with Mr. Daum. The other was an outdoor square with enough space for a Daimler truck and bus as a backdrop. What better way to showcase Daimler’s business? To take full advantage of what would only be a brief window, Michael got an early start.
I always ask for an early arrival on set, at least 1.5 hours before the shoot. I spent about two hours in total on-site. Conditions were quite favorable, the weather was good, and the morning light was fine. Daimler Trucks & Buses had offered to bring an electric truck and an electric bus over from their facility in Mannheim to Stuttgart for the shoot. Working with two large vehicles as a backdrop for a portrait shoot was new to me.
There was a high energy on set — not only because of the time constraints but also because people had gathered to watch. All-in-all Micahel had only 10 minutes to shoot the outdoor section.
Placing the truck and the bus so that I could move around freely and still get some decent shooting angles took a few minutes. When the vehicles had been polished to shine and placed according to my directions, Mr. Daum arrived.
Michael knew he would only have another 15 minutes for the interview segment of the shoot. In his preparation, he had already treated the room earlier.
In the meeting room, I had to move some furniture to get a clean background. I opened some blinds to have enough daylight for decent exposure. In interview situations, I always try to have a say on where the subject sits. They usually choose the worst place in terms of light and background! Working with Mr. Daum was very pleasant, he was collaborative and open to the process of being photographed.
Michael then showed a side of himself that might make his viewers understand something special about his process. A key to how he can capture his subjects with simultaneous candor and poise. Even though the newspaper had already interviewed Mr. Daum, Michael prepared his own. Conducting an interview while photographing can be tricky, but Michael came in ready to engage with his subject.
The interview situation was kind of special because the newspaper had already conducted a telephone/online interview. However, they didn’t have images of an interview situation. I also didn’t have the finished interview, let alone the questions. So I did my homework and read a lot about Mr. Daum. I researched the challenges of hydrogen-fueled trucks and buses, and e-mobility, in general. From that, I prepared a bunch of questions for Mr. Daum that he was happy to answer.
I am genuinely interested in the people I meet and photograph. Especially to know what drives them. I also treat everyone with the same dignity and respect, regardless of their power or position.
The resulting photographs proved most successful. The images from this shoot not only ended up being used by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, but also ended up being featured in Focus Magazine Germany, Manager Magazin, and two were even licensed by Daimler Truck itself.
My favorite moment of the day was at the end of my little interview. I took the chance to ask Mr. Daum a personal question about how he deals with the pressure of being a CEO and having to deliver constantly. He said he was only as good as the people working with him. And that having a great team helps a lot. He also mentioned his family as a big source of strength.
Michael also walked away from this shoot having developed his creative process further. Not only did he appreciate the additional locations for a shoot, but he also adopted documentary-style photography into his repertoire.
Since this shoot, I always ask for more shooting locations in pre-planning or even during the shoot. I also started to capture in-between moments of my subjects, reportage-style, in addition to the formal portraits.
See more of Michael’s work on his website.
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