Werner Amann Photography

Debra Tate for Park Avenue

2008-08-15T23:19:00.005+02:00

I took a portrait of Debra Tate at her ranch for the August issue of German magazine Park Avenue. Debra Tate is the sister of Sharon Tate who was murdered by the Manson family in 1969. From the drive to her ranch to the actual shooting it was a real interesting assignment - amazing to hear Debra's views and experiences on an event everybody has heard of.

For The Love Of...

2008-07-08T13:50:00.005+02:00

...California:

©Werner Amann, June 2008

Roadtrip III / Living In A Box

2008-07-04T14:06:00.002+02:00

Miami - Kansas City

©Werner Amann, May 2008

Roadtrip II

2008-07-03T13:54:00.001+02:00

©Werner Amann, Miami 2008

Roadtrip I

2008-06-23T14:18:00.001+02:00

Here is a first selection of portraits I took during a recent trip from Miami to Kansas City

©Werner Amann, June 2008

Sternenstaub

2008-06-17T14:23:00.008+02:00

Sternenstaub in der Nähe von Joshua Tree.

Ich bin bis ca Mitte September in Los Angeles.

I will be working in Los Angeles till around Mid-September - then back in Berlin.
If you have a shooting here or know about a good party, exhibition etc. call me at +1 323 334 5602

Sternenstaub ©Werner Amann, June 2008

Mirco and Andre

2008-03-01T10:19:00.002+01:00

from a series of portraits I took of friends last summer.

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough

2008-02-01T16:55:00.001+01:00

... said Robert Capa, who is probably the first guy to embody the cliché of the photographer as adventurer akin to Hemingway's image of writer/adventurer.

Theres an interesting NYtimes piece on boxes of his negatives of the Spanish Civil War which were thought to be lost since decades but have been rediscovered recently.

There's probably a book and exhibition coming up but till then - one picture I really like -
of the box with the roll of negatives which you can see on a slide show here:
Link

I'm not sure if digital data would survive for 75 years laying around in boxes like this, but it seems that these negative are still in a pretty good shape.

Influenzia - Photographers

2008-01-12T12:50:00.000+01:00

Influenzia - photographers, in no particular order

Wegee: Frechheit, jewish humour
Man Ray: eros & technique
Jack Pierson: words, sharp and blured
Nobuyoshi Araki: japanese dragon, no categories, laughter, perversion and culture
Marvin Heiferman: archive art
Gueorgui Pinkhassov: dream journalism
Larry Clark: fresh and dirty
Takashi Homma: look at me, lick me
Robert Mapplethorpe: obsessive form

more to come...

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T11:59:00.000+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

I was rather busy the last weeks and months with different commercial projects - which I don't post so much on the blog - but I also managed to go to Tel Aviv for a personal project. I'm still editing the material (I also shot some interviews on video) but here's already a little preview:

Tel Aviv

2007-11-20T09:12:00.001+01:00

I will be in Tel Aviv for a personal projekt from this Wendsday on. I'm also planning to visit the Negev desert and Jerusalem for a day.
I'm visiting for the first time and I'm very much open for any tips, advice, locations, people, places etc...

Its a trip I wanted to make since years and I'm happy its finally becoming real!

HeartBeatBerlin

2007-11-12T19:36:00.000+01:00

Together with Diane Vincent I am doing another blog called HeartBeatBerlin. Right now most of the pictures - the B/W polaroids - are actually from her - so much more reason to check it out if you are bored of my stuff ;-)

Link

Webpage Updated

2007-11-06T09:30:00.000+01:00

My webpage is updated and redesigned!
Please have a look:

www.werneramann.com

Link

2007-10-19T11:27:00.000+02:00

A blog I like to check out regularly:

www.aphotoeditor.com

goskate

2007-10-14T22:03:00.000+02:00

Together with my grandfather I recently decided to go and learn skating. Here's a picture of my Opa on his board.

Portraits in ZEITmagazin LEBEN

2007-09-10T10:21:00.000+02:00

This is Jonathan Meese. I shot him for the ZeitMagazin Leben, with the theme "How was your summer?". The portrait of Johnny can be found in the current issue of Leben, among Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and Paul von Dyk.

Die italienische Reise

2007-09-06T20:29:00.000+02:00

Back from a 2weektrip through Italy - here's some pictures I took while travelling.

New Work

2007-07-22T18:53:00.000+02:00

Here's previews of new work - a mix of street photography and portraits and cityscapes. I'm editing all of that together right now.

Juliane, Berlin 2007

Junge, Berlin Adlershof 2007

Favourite Videos Part 1

2007-07-20T00:21:00.000+02:00

Chapter 1
*Gay House Music Saves the World*

Farley Jackmaster Funk - Love Can't Turn Around - 1986

First house track I ever heard. And everything else all of a sudden was not so interesting anymore.

Bad Mood Day

2007-07-13T18:38:00.000+02:00

Redoing my webpage right now - and it looks like these two images probably won't make the final cut , so I'm showing them here.

I'm in a bad mood today and these two pics from Brazil actually make me feel better.

Thomas Hirschhorn

2007-07-12T18:47:00.000+02:00

This was one of my favourite exhibitions this year so far: Thomas Hirschhorn's installation "Stand-Alone" at Arndt&Partner in Berlin. It recently closed but here's a link with pictures and text:

LINK

The effect of going through the rooms hardly comes across in the pictures but what happend to me was that I first was rather irritated and I didn't really know what to do with it but more and more fascination (and also shock) creeped in. I saw a lot of good exhibitions latley but I haven't experienced that mix of confusion and fascination so much.

I also found his text tres sympa (click the link). I don't think I understand or agree with everything he says but it's for sure a nice departure from the rule that you shouldn't explain your own work.

Photography Blogs

2007-07-08T23:26:00.000+02:00

Two Links to two Photography Blogs I like to read:

Alec Soth

Shen Wei

any other recommendations - ?

Family Portraits

2007-07-08T21:03:00.000+02:00

Here's two portraits of my sister and my grandfather. Bit different, flashy lightning then what I've been using lately, but sometimes I like to experiment. Also it reminds me of the great weather last summer while I was visiting my parents in Bavaria.

Artikel about Werner Herzog

2007-07-04T15:26:00.000+02:00

I've just read a brilliant article in the New Yorker about the latest project of filmmaker Werner Herzog (yes the other Werner from Germany. If you came here without knowing me before then thats allright but if you dont know Werner Herzog you have some work to do). It really gives a great insight into his way of working.

Heres a quote:

"Herzog was being barraged by such complaints. At every turn, crew members let him know that they considered his directing habits strange, impulsive, even amateurish. They couldn’t comprehend why Herzog insisted on grabbing the machete himself when the sound crew wanted to capture the sound of slashed reeds. They were baffled by his ignorance of his own screenplay; Herzog told me that he hadn’t reread it once since writing it, three years earlier, because he wanted to “respond to the situation in the jungle” and “keep things completely fresh.” They were annoyed by continuity errors that Herzog considered “of no great consequence.” (“Werner, isn’t Christian supposed to have a rucksack in this scene?”) They were irritated when Herzog declared that someone’s unfinished makeup looked “good enough,” and that he couldn’t wait for it to be perfect, because he liked the way the tropical light was filtering through the treetops. They objected to his reliance on hastily improvised handheld shots. (“How about using a dolly just this once?”) And they questioned his reluctance to film scenes with more than one camera. (“The audience will never see Christian’s reaction unless you add a closeup.”) Herzog’s stated belief that his approach would create “an event-based dynamic, a feeling of being an observer dragged into the scene,” struck many of his colleagues as a cover for a lack of technique. As they saw it, Herzog was ruining a potentially lush adventure movie by shooting it like a quickie documentary.

The fact that Herzog has been making films for more than forty years, many of them acclaimed as works of unnerving originality, didn’t shake the collective judgment that he was doing it all wrong. The mood on the set was toxic. Josef Lieck, the first assistant director, who has worked with Wim Wenders, said, “For a man of his age, it’s a very . . . raw talent. It’s more like an eighteen-year-old running into the forest.” A costume designer complained, “He doesn’t know basic things about filmmaking, things that simply make it easier to tell a story. He thinks that these things will undermine his vision, but they won’t.” Harry Knapp, an assistant director, said, “There is a silent war on the set. We’re all in a state of shock.” Herzog, for his part, politely ignored the crew’s complaints. Zeitlinger explained, “When making a film, Werner tries to pretend as if nobody is around but him and the actors.”

The rest of the article is great too: Link

Fusion Festival 2007

2007-07-03T00:34:00.000+02:00

We've been to the Fusion Festival over the weekend which is held every summer near Berlin. It was a nice escape from all the routines. Also it reminded me of some old school techno events. I always thought that electronic music in a nature setting has a special vibe to it.