In this digital age, businesses are using technology to get a competitive edge over their rivals, and many work with Digital Innovation Hubs, which help companies of any size make the most of any digital opportunity available. In a nutshell, a “Digital Innovation Hub” is a coordinated group of organizations that offer a set of services and activities to companies to improve their digital business/production processes, products, or services through a one-stop shop.
Recently, Berlin-based corporate and advertising photographer Markus Altmann was commissioned by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics’ Digital Hub Initiative to shoot all of their 16 Hubs across the nation and the start-ups currently based there.
As a photographer with experience in capturing digital collaboration in both corporate settings and scientific laboratories, Markus was the ideal selection for the project due to his virulent drive to tell authentic visual stories – translating into images that make a company unique.
I am good at working with real people and making the best of any given situation and location.
The vision of the assignment was to showcase the teams that work at the different Digital Hubs and the start-ups that are established there, with a strong emphasis on collaboration and teamwork.
The initiatives claim they connect SMEs and corporates with new innovation partners from science and the start-up scene.
The project took Markus the length and breadth of the western European country, ranging from such cities as Munich, Hamburg, Dortmund, and Berlin, to name but a few. Luckily, all the Digital Hubs were located in commutable metropolises, sometimes docked to university institutes, so accessibility was straightforward for the photographer. Since Markus only had half a day for each location, often, two hubs in cities close to each other were scheduled to shoot for the same day. The agency did all of the pre-planning, meaning Markus just had to do all his work on set.
I had done projects like this before, although never with such a tight schedule. This experience has helped me improve improvising and making do with little time and resources.
A big challenge for Markus on set was the fact that, due to Covid regulations, many employees were still in their home offices. The Hubs tried to get as many people as possible on site for the shoot. However, he still had to deal with the problem of empty workspaces and collaboration transpiring mainly via Zoom or Teams.
Most Hubs were very helpful. They knew we were completely dependent on their support, and of course, they also wanted to be well represented. With the start-ups located at the Hubs, it was a bit of a gamble. Some were keen on being photographed, others again wouldn’t want to be disturbed or couldn’t because of meetings. And since we only had half a day, there was no chance to reschedule.
Connecting with my subjects has never really been a problem for me. Respecting and treating them as the persons they are (and not as models) was key.
Due to budget and logistics, Markus worked without an assistant but was accompanied by a consultant from the agency whom the clients knew well. He used available light almost all the time, and occasionally, the consultant would help by holding a reflector.
Since I had never seen the locations before, I had to be really quick with assessing the possibilities, deciding which people to use, and coming up with a plan for the 4-hour shoot. They also needed some exterior shots of the buildings, so this had to be scheduled in.
The Berlin visual creative came away with multiple useful experiences from the project, which he will utilize in future endeavors.
Being able to take a peek into so many different fields of work and innovation felt like a real privilege. And the energy of the people working there, especially with the startups, was great!
See more of Markus’s work on his website.
Further Reading
Read more about Markus on our Published blog.
Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Photography,
and Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!