- How is your work similar to work of other photographers?
“Its about the eye, its an extension of the eye, their point of view.”
2.How is your work different than work of other photographers?
His work is not journalistic – he has to create the moment by setting up lighting and directing movement. The moment he captured would not exist without him.
His feeling is mysterious. He likes to create moments that are not clearly one thing – using lighting and emotion. It should not be obvious what is going on – the viewer will have to pause and apply discerning thought/wonder.
3.How does using the art of photography to capture visual art or moving art, such as dance, influence the subject matter?
“The moment becomes distorted. Perhaps a different lens is used, the photographer can take off a face or arms using manipulation (likely digital), the photograph can be over exposed, made ethereal, shot into the light to create a glare or shot with the light so it looks totally different (this is how you use light and camera like a paint brush). Sometimes the shot is taken while lying on the floor, sometimes hes standing – the picture is always changing.”
4.How has originating from Germany influenced your profession?
He hasn’t been in America too long, the early years pattern what you see. In Germany there is a certain organization to things – Germans learn to take pride in what they do, to do things the right way. In America things are faster paced, things like quality aren’t as important as being fast. Approaching things with a love for quality and taking time came with him overseas. This is important in photography because the work can easily become simple.
5.What are your favorite locations and subjects to photograph?
New York is a favorite. Its like a living organism, India, parts of China- very scenic.
6.You set out to become an architect but fashion and modeling photography captured you more. Is architecture something you still think about? Have you figured out how architecture and photography related, according to what intrests you?
“Architecture skills relate to photography- perspective, balance, portions. It influences your mind and mood, furniture -everything you’re surrounded by. A lot of certain dimensions and ratios evoke certain thoughts, they translate clearly to photography. This subliminal math has a special something you can’t describe.”
7.What about photography do you find so interesting?
As a child he was fascinated by art (his brother – did a lot of photography and explained the technicals when he was a young boy). It comes back to recreating the special moments that otherwise pass by and are gone. Preserve it. freeze the moment.
He studied some drawing and painting at architecture school. Caravaggio used intruiging lighting – very dramatic. He used photography like painting, like with light.
8. What is the difference between art photography and photography?
The distinction is subjective – How do you personally define what is art and what is not art?Art can be a soup can (Warhol made us think about what is art) -its the same with photography.
For Udo, what brings photography to artistic categorization is when it captures the viewer more.
He picks photos to exhibit that invite imagination, they give an emotion. and/or pause a second of sensation onto a rectangle.
9. When the viewer is considered does the photograph change?
Its not so much of a thought process – its more of a gut feeling. A zone of creation begins, like a dance, thinking stops and a feeling enters, “This is something way beyond what I thought it’d be.”
For a time he was offering photography workshops. He quit hosting them because of COVID but he hopes to start them up in the fall.
An exhibit featuring his work is on display from June 16-July 16 at Carlton Fine Arts.
