JENRIKS24hphoetry

Our first guest photographer in 2008 (we left out January), Daniel K. Gebhart, is a very talented, young man from Vienna, Austria. He successfully runs his own studio and we’re very glad to publish this interview and his photos.

Who are you?

Hi! I’m Daniel K. Gebhart – a youngish (25), ambitious photographer. Born in Tyrol but now living in Vienna. That’s where I also own a little photo studio inside the museums quarter.

How did you get interested in photography?

I’ve always been interested in graphics, design, forms and colors. I’ve been working as Unix system administrator and software developer for a long time. I enjoyed my work a lot. But at some point I recognized that I need to do something more creative and more realistic. I needed to go out, get about, interact with people and spend less time behind the computer.

So I bought myself an SLR camera and started to take photographs and sent them to newspapers and agencies. Some of them really liked my new and virgin style for photography and I started to take more and more pictures and to earn some money with it.

A few months later I quit my safe and well paid job as system administrator and jumped in at the deep end. It was not easy to start up a new business. But as always in my professional career I only wanted to do what I really love to do and to make my hobby my profession. I guess that’s the best way to happiness and success.

Are you somehow a trained photographer or rather an autodidact?

Elliott Erwitt once said “I studied photography by reading the instructions on the box of film. You don’t study photography – you do it”. And Jonas Bendiksen recently wrote about his intership at Magnum “Looking back, I always think that simply being around the office, absorbing the tremendous creative energy of this prolific group of photographers and personalities taught me more than I’d ever learn if I went and got a bachelors degree in photography”.

Somehow my education is a mix of that. I learned by browsing and reading on the internet (strobist weblog, at flickr, at photoshop tv and many more) and I’ll start a three month intership at Magnum Photos NYC in March this year. Somehow I’m scared by getting “trained” in photography. I would say photography is more about feelings and passion. Learning by doing and loving it. Some people try to study and think they are perfect photographers once they are finished. But I get so many applications of finished photography students who want to assist me. They study and have no idea how to start up afterwards.

Being a photographer is so much more than just taking pictures. A photographer has to be accountant, manager, salesman, entertainer, art director, webdesigner,… all in one. Thats what I learned in my first year as self employed photographer.

Analog or digital?

For commercial projects I mostly take digital pictures because most of my clients wants to get a lot of pictures very fast and only digital. Sometimes when they need 200MB files because their designers “need” them I also take pictures with my analog medium format system and scan them afterwards very highres. But I love to photograph analog when ever I have enough time. For example on vacation I only take analog pictures. I own a few analog cameras (Lomo LC-A, Polaroid SX-70, Mamiya 645, Voigtländer Bessa-L). Using them sometimes as a stylistic device works out very well too.

Black and white or color?

Mainly color – because I love colors! But sometime black and white works better. And If black and white – than real black and white. I hate gray!

3 photographers you adore.

There are too many fascinating photographers out there. I adore all the photographers I interviewed on my flickr interviews project so far. Plus I love each of my favorites at flickr. But you asked for only 3. So, maybe Mona Kuhn, Jeremy and Claire Weiss and Gary Matoso.

What would be the motive of your dreams?

Wow, thats a good question. I spend many time thinking about it recently. But I couldn’t figure out. I guess it’s the small daily things who often makes my heart jumping when I see them in perfect light. But also movies are very inspiring. There are so many nice pictures in a lot of them. Furthermore I’m very lucky to have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world. She is always a perfect motive.

What inspires you the most when you are taking photos?

I get inspired by so many things. When I read the newspaper or any magazine I spend most of the time by watching the pictures. I told you about movies before. And I browse many, many pictures in the net every day. A lot of photoblogs, flickr, flack, etc.

Do you have a special ambition with your photography?

I just let it keep it coming and do it because I love it and it makes me happy. I would like to do my advertising stuff and am looking for a good photographer represantation.

Daniel, thank you very much for answering our questions! We are very happy to have you here as our twelfth guest photographer!

You’re welcome. Thank you for asking some very interesting questions! And please keep up your nice photoblog.