When you look at Germany-based photographer Rüdiger Nehmzow’s portfolio, it’s clear that he likes to photograph BIG things: big trucks, big factories, big power plants, big warehouses. So it’s no surprise that Deutsche Post DHL, one of the largest logistics companies in the world, would call on him to capture the massive scale of their distribution operations for their annual report. HW Design, a German agency who led the project, gave Nehmzow the task of telling the story of a facility that Deutsche Post DHL runs for Stada, a German drug manufacturer.
Rüdiger’s task was to get photos throughout the facility that showed how things worked—portraits of managers doing interviews, still shots of the equipment. But more than that, he was asked to get photos that showed a visually appealing look at the logistic facilities, as well an insider look at the state of the art systems employed by Stada and DHL. Rüdiger says he is called in for assignments like this frequently, and his goal is always to tell the authentic story of the company through striking and honest visual imagery.
My approach in professional photography is a well-balanced mix of the power of authenticity and the feeling of the client’s needs.
For this shoot, there was very little preproduction necessary. On the day of the shoot, Rüdiger and the art director took a walk around the facilities, deciding where the story was and which scenes would be good to cover. There was no set shot list, and it was ultimately up to Rüdiger to decide which images would best chronicle the company and their work.
Rüdiger says that this type of project is always fun and engaging for him as he’s combining his different photographic interests—people, equipment and space to create a complete picture of something as complex as a company and with so many moving parts.
That’s what I loved with this project: combining different photographic categories in one visual language.
For Rüdiger, the shoot itself is only the first part of the project. Afterwards, he goes through all the images, carefully editing and color grading them before sending off the finished images. He says his clients really appreciate this attention to detail, which he can clearly see from their BIG smiles when they see the pictures.
To view more of Rüdiger’s work, visit nehmzow.photography.