Leica S Magazine No. 2

Beau Grealy · Jonathan mannion · kirchknopf + GramBow · christophe kutner

beds

KirchKnopf + Grambow opulent yet imBueD with transient Grace

beau Grealy willful Beauty Defies a Bleak lanDscape

Jonathan mannion home at last! yasiin Bey (mos Def) anD new orleans

christophe Kutner nowhere in ariZona a loVe story

cabinets room divider shelf systems wardrobes

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LEICA S2 A class of its own.

MD-MANAGEMENT.COM Eppendorfer Weg 213 | 20253 Hamburg +49 40 421076660 | Info@md-management.com

Working professionally means aiming for excellent results under the toughest conditions, achieving the strengths of medium format photography with the typical ease and quick handling of a DSLR. This is the idea behind the Leica S2. The S2 focuses on fundamentals and fits well-balanced in the hand, even when photographing in portrait format. With 37.5 megapixel resolution, its medium format sensor guarantees best image quality and a high dynamic range, even at higher ISO settings. The new Leica CS lenses ensure easy use of the focal plan shutter and central shutter, achieving the customary superior levels of performance.

Consequently, the S2 not only delivers perfect images, but also supplies data that can be immediately processed in all professional workflows. These are all good reasons why the extremely robust Leica S2 can give you a real competitive edge. If all these features were visible, it would never have been such an easy camera to handle.

You can find more information at: www.s.leica-camera.com

Model: Kat Cordts | Photo: Lado Alexi | Styling: Tu Anh Ngo | Makeup: Natalie Franz | Graphic design: Daniel Gailmann

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01 · 2012

Editorial

Imprint S-Magazine a special edition of Leica Fotografie International

In this, our second issue, we reveal just how versatile the S system can be on location and in the studio, and introduce some impressive new additions to the system. In the portfolios produced for this issue, internationally active photographers illustrate their unique photographic styles.

Beau Grealy sets the scene in the south of his home country, Australia, with a particular fashion shoot of delicate beauties in rugged scenery. The photographer translates yearning moments of romance into the avant-garde – simultaneously delicate and monumental.

The American photographer Jonathan Mannion, a specialist in portraits and cover shots of top people from the US music scene, took advantage of a visit to his good friend Mos Def, now known as Yasiin Bey, in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. During his nine day stay Mannion captured vivid impressions of colorful city life and unique characters of local prominence.

Not just red roses, Kirchknopf + Grambow – young newcomers on the Berlin scene – let it rain a whole botanical garden. The flowerpower overkill organized especially for this shoot plays much more than a background role in this studio session – in an impressively plastic detail and opulence that only the S2 can capture.

A long-term resident in the USA, Christophe Kutner from the south of France – most often a commercial fashion photographer, but an artist at heart – captured moments of melancholy and romance on a couple’s five-day trip through almost uninhabited landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico. For Kutner, settings like this also serve as an allegorical illustration of the current state of the nation: loneliness and desolation – not as a backdrop to yearning desires, but as an alternative home to those driven to the fringes of society.

Deciding which of the technical topics covered in this issue of S-Magazine should take pride of place turned out to be a difficult task.

So we’ll just take them one by one: the S lenses with central shutters are here at last! They are sensational. They are reliable. And faster than anything else. The shot by Markus Tedeskino, captured with an S2 and an S lens with a central shutter, would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

Something else would have been just as impossible, too – using Hasselblad H system lenses on an S2 body. That has changed – immensely – thanks to the new S adapter H from Leica: not only that all functions are available when mounting H lenses on the S2, namely AF, central shutter control, and all exposure modes – including aperture priority and program – but also that the camera is now the most versatile in its segment, due to its compatibility with the widest range of lenses you can find. The Swiss photographer Thomas de Monaco, who has been shooting with the Hasselblad system for years, tested the S adapter H for his series of floral-ornamental fashion stills – and was intensely satisfied with the results from the combination of the S2 and H lenses.

But see for yourself and have a wonderful spring – starting with our magazine!

2nd year LFI Photographie GmbH Hammerbrookstraße 93, 20097 Hamburg, Germany Phone +49/(0)40/226 21 12 50 +49/(0)40/226 21 12 70 Fax ISSN 2192-8347 E-mail mail@lfi-online.de Web site www.lfi-online.de

the Leica S2 has occupied an outstanding posi­ tion in the world of professional photography since its launch three years ago – and now has central shutter lenses.

Find out more about the techni­ cal highlights on page 82ff.

Editors in chief Inas Fayed, Frank P. Lohstöter Creative direction LFI Photographie and Tom Leifer Design Editorial office Carla S. Erdmann, Bernd Luxa, Anna Madelung, Holger Sparr, Katrin A. Ullmann; Henriette Primus (picture editor) Contributors Kelsey Fain (New York), Marcus J. Guillory, Richard Swan, Leo Scott, David Slater (London) Art direction Tom Leifer, Alessandro Argentato Tom Leifer Design, Hamburg, www.tomleiferdesign.de Photography Beau Grealy, Christophe Kutner, Kirchknopf + Grambow, Jonathan Mannion, Thomas de Monaco, Markus Tedeskino Translation Wieners + Wieners, Ahrensburg Advertising sales and marketing Kirstin Ahrndt-Buchholz, Samira Holtorf Phone +49/(0)40/226 21 12 71 Fax +49/(0)40/226 21 12 70 E-mail buchholz@lfi-online.de holtorf@lfi-online.de

The S-Magazine as An iPAD app – free download from the iTUnes Store

Readers’ services E-mail mail@lfi-online.de Reproduction Alphabeta GmbH, Hamburg, Germany Paper papier union Tauro, papier union Lumisilk Printer Beisner Druck GmbH & Co. KG, Buchholz in der Nordheide, Germany Editorial and copyright Letters, inquiries, or material for publication are welcome.

Heavy mail such as manuscripts and photographs should include an appropriate number of international reply coupons if they are to be returned. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited material and this will only be returned if appropriate postage is included.

All articles and illustrations contained in the magazine are subject to the laws of copyright. Any form of utilization beyond the narrow limits imposed by the laws of copyright and without the express permission of the publisher is forbidden and will be prosecuted. This applies particularly to reproduction, translation, microfilming, or the storage and processing in electronic media.

The Cover was shot by Kirchknopf + Grambow.

Model: Luize Salmgrieze/Mega Model Agency

Leica – is a registered trademark (91674).

Beau Grealy · Jonathan mannion · kirchknopf + GramBow · christophe kutner

KirchKnopf + Grambow opulent yet imBueD with transient Grace

beau Grealy willful Beauty Defies a Bleak lanDscape

Jonathan mannion home at last! yasiin Bey (mos Def) anD new orleans

christophe Kutner nowhere in ariZona a loVe story

The editorial staff

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Content

beau grealy NATURAL BEAUTIES · 10

jonathan mannion The Crescent City – Nine Days In New Orleans · 28

kirchknopf + grambow »Two sets of eyes, double inspiration, Plus four-wheel drive« · 55

Christophe kutner ALL AMERICAN DIARY · 67

Technology CS Exposed!

The S lenses With Central Shutter · 82 Broaden Your Horizons NEW: The S Adapter H · 88 THE PERFECT RAW WORK FLOW FOR PERFECT PICTURES NeW: Adobe photoshop Lightroom 4 · 96

S-league International Photographers present actual Campaigns · 98

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Photographers

Foto Anthony Graneri

Christophe kutner accompanied a couple on a trip through Arizona and New Mexico. The journal of the trip tells of romantic desolation and wide-open spaces with few traces of human habitation.

International photographer Beau Grealy returns home to Australia where he fuses outlandish beauties with the rugged landscapes on the shores of the Tasman Sea.

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»Our studio looked like the inside of a greenhouse.« For Nine Days in the German duo Louisiana: Kirchknopf + Jonathan mannion’s GRambow photogunconditional raphy is a love affair with never-ending the Crescent City, adventure. The New Orleans. newcomers talk about their freestyle fashion spread shot in a riot of flowers.

Markus tedeskino, one of Germany’s most prominent portrait photographers, puts the CS shutters of the S-Lenses through their paces in the cold of the North Sea coast.

Thomas de monaco A Hasselblad photographer of many years standing is the first to try out the S-Adapter H – and creates some magical fairy costumes.

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Photo: Friedrun Reinhold

„With Profoto’s D1 flashes I can master each and every lighting situation easily without any problems” – Friedrun Reinhold

Ready To Move

Profoto D1

Using Profoto D1 compact flashes you will easily move yourself up to the professional league. Professional photographers do need the following today: Highly reliable, fast and precise flash units. Furthermore the flash equipment needs to be versatile and very mobile.

Profoto builds their D1 compact units with either 250 Ws, 500 Ws or 1000 Ws power output. The D1 units are controlled completely digital, which guarantees a high accuracy in color temperature and general power stability from flash to flash. The power range can be adjusted over 7 f-stops, to give you maximum freedom to create your images.

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Profoto GmbH Essener Straße 4, Valvo Park, Haus B6, D-22419 Hamburg Telefon +49-(0)40-3085052-00, Telefax +49-(0)40-3085052-11 E-Mail: info@profoto.de, www.profoto.de

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Beau grealy

NATURAL BEAUTIES Unconventional beauties in a rugged landscape – the Australian photographer Beau Grealy has done a very special fashion shoot. Close to wind, sea spray, and waves.

Copy: Katrin A. Ullmann

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Beau grealy

Photography Beau Grealy, Management & Production Creative direction Pouline Töpfer, January Biannual Styling Tamila Purvis, The Artist Group Hair Alan White, Names Agency Makeup Justine Purdue, Names Agency Production Simon Johnson, Management & Production

T

hey could be sisters. Or best friends. They look so very similar – at least at first glance – and act and pose so much alike in Beau Grealy’s pictures. Their faces are highly expressive, and yet they appear fragile, almost spherical. Grealy loves their special radiance: »The models are both beautiful and have very unique looks. I love that they are slightly awkward and portray a certain strength in their beauty.« He selected the pair for the shoot with the S2 for precisely these reasons. He wanted to create a collection that extends beyond mere fashion, conveying a haunting, almost eerie mood: »In the same way that the raw Australian landscape can,« says Grealy. And thus he photographed his motifs not in the landscape, but rather as part of it. »I wanted to portray the characters not only belonging together, but also blending with the landscape.« He allows nature sufficient space to act as an independent protagonist in his pictures. The sea, the spray, the rocks.

Grealy has consciously emphasized the forces and power of nature. Styling and models are not integrated in nature, but rather assert themselves alongside it. The photographer selected Palm Beach, a northern suburb of Sydney, for the collection: »Here, where sea and sand come together, you can feel the strength of Mother Nature.

This feeling becomes all the more present the farther out onto the headlands of the Tasman Sea you go.« Grealy was born close-by and developed an interest in photography while still a boy. After breaking his wrist one day, he suddenly found himself »having so much time to play around with a camera.« When asked about his artistic role models, Grealy names the great American photographers Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, and Harry Callahan. But the earliest – and most formative – influence on his creations, adds Grealy, was certainly his father. Gary Grealy worked as a commercial photographer in Sydney and his son Beau assisted him regularly. Grealy worked in New York for a long time, more than ten years, but returned to Australia last year. When he is not traveling the world for photo assignments, riding the enormous Australian waves, or exploring galleries, he dedicates himself to photography here. For him that means constantly trying to capture the perfect moment with his own original, almost poetically romantic signature.

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Beau Grealy The internationally active photographer Beau Grealy was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1982.

He grew up there in artistic surroundings and took up an interest in photography as a boy.

His father, who had the greatest influence on his career, was a commercial photographer.

Beau Grealy worked as his assistant for several years. After a brief detour to the University of Sydney, Grealy soon discovered that »a more hands-on approach to assisting was better for me.« He moved his headquarters to New York, where he assisted such artists as Alasdair McLellan, Steven Klein, Toby McFarlan Pond, and Andy Bettles. Grealy recently returned to live in Sydney. His customers include Nike, Topman, Rebecca Taylor, Moscot, Bassike, and Bergdorf Goodman. His pictures have appeared in such publications as US Vogue, Sunday Times Style Magazine, Australian Harper’s Bazaar, Dossier, and i-D magazine.

Grealy is inspired by all art forms: first and foremost of course by photography, but also by films and modern art. Grealy is represented by the M.A.P. Agency in New York and Sydney.

k www.beaugrealy.com k www.mapltd.com

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Spring / Summer

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jonathan mannion

The Crescent City Jonathan Mannion: nine days in New Orleans Copy: Marcus J. Guillory

Serendipity often explains those things that many believe are of divine order – generous happenstance aligned with one’s desires. Yet how one arrives at their subject is the stuff of legend and lore for many photographers, prompting many to discover more than anticipated, such as their own personal truth and declaration of their own humanity.

A light-hearted invitation to New Orleans for photographer Jonathan Mannion presented exactly that – an opportunity to rediscover New Orleans from a fresh perspective.

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Yasiin Bey (mos Def)

Fantastic view: the multitalented actor and ÂťMCÂŤ enjoys the evening sun on the balcony of his newly purchased French Quarter apartment. He was handed the keys to his new home only minutes before

TremÉ Brass Band

The members of the five-man brass band are all highly individual characters. After two albums under the musical direction of snare-drummer Benny Jones Sr. (2nd from left), they became more than local heroes: one of their tunes was chosen as the title theme for an HBO series

mauricio

Souljah’s son has made himself comfortable on the speakers in the trunk of the car, relaxes and watches the goings-on in his parents’ garden. Neighbors drop round for a while every day, rarely without including a couple of musicians

Troy »Trombone Shorty« Andrews

A musician through and through, he is one of the pillars of the new R & B and jazz generation. »I always wanted to meet him,« says Jonathan Mannion. But that wasn’t all.

They became friends at first sight

»The master«

»kentucky«

Joshua Mann Pailet

Elder Banks

Souljah

For Mannion, the drummer with the dazzling smile and inset diamonds in his teeth became a point of reference for neighborhood life in the 17th Ward.

They spent a whole day together. A day filled with new encounters

Yasiin Bey (mos Def)

»Trombone Shorty«

Sean McCusker

Terrance Osborne

Lafayette Cemetery No. 2

Mannion recalls, »This cemetery fascinates me even in the pouring rain.« Instead of burials, the dead are placed in vaults – a reminder of French colonial funeral rites in New Orleans

Mardi Gras Decorations

This was one of the first subjects that caught Mannion’s eye on his strolls through New Orleans.

Even in the pouring rain, the bright and colorful strings of pearls on the garden fences lose nothing of their impact

Super Sunday Parade

The parades of various ÂťIndian gangsÂŤ are considered to be one of the highlights of Mardi Gras. At the same time, the festival is joyfully celebrated by colorfully costumed Catholics with Italian roots

Daniel Fuselier

As luck would have it, Mannion meets the right man at the right time. »He’s the artist who created this enormous mural«, relates the photographer after their chance encounter. The mural extends around all four walls of a club

Mardi Gras Indians

The fantasy costumes for the Mardi Gras parades are inspired by traditional tribal dress: glorious colors and masses of feathers decorate the costumes of the native Americans – a tradition that began around 1850

»Uncle« Lionel Batiste

»If you know him, you’ll soon know the whole of New Orleans. He’s a symbol and has a figurehead function for the city,« explains Mannion, as he tells us about the bass-drum player of the Tremé Brass Band.

Advanced in years, he knows everything about the city and everyone in it

Yasiin Bey (mos Def)

A couple of years ago, Mannion met the multitalented Bey during a shoot.

In the meantime, they have become very good friends. Mannion: ÂťWe share exactly the same wavelengthÂŤ

Trumpet Hands

The hands and the trumpet belong to one of Souljah’s neighbors. The trumpet has seen better days. I just love things that tell a story, says Mannion about the trumpet simply repaired with gaffer tape

»Trombone Shorty«

The trombonist plays wherever he is.

Mannion is still excited, »Trombone Shorty treated us to an impromptu concert under this freeway bridge.

The acoustics were phenomenal due to the concrete«

Photo assistant Nick »Young Nock« Sethi Documentary filmmaker Devaughn »Chunky Champion Co-Pres« Hughson Studio manager Alexis Bobbitt Studio assistant Katie Piper

House on LaSalle Avenue

This house tells of the past of New Orleans.

Mannion admits, »Houses like this always make me feel sentimental.« Sadly, this house is scheduled for urban clearance

Jonathan Mannion

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t was in the early 1990s when Jonathan Mannion first began his love affair with the Crescent City. Lured by its storied reputation of decadence, opulence, and history, Mannion would continue to regularly shoot New Orleans as subject and backdrop as he evolved from novice shutterbug to celebrated professional photographer and music video director. With a demanding shooting schedule that sent the Cleveland native all over the world, Mannion longed to return to a simple process of man and camera interacting with humanity, the very impetus that brought him to photography. »I decided to return to my roots as a photographer, to shoot organically with no plans, no lights, no extra equipment – just a camera, an alert eye, and an open mind.« Yet it was a gracious invitation from friend/actor/rapper, Yasiin Bey (formerly known as »Mos Def«), who had just bought a home in New Orleans, that pulled Mannion back to the Big Easy once again. No occasion, no music video, no Mardi Gras – just an opportunity to visit with an old friend. But it was also a chance for Mannion to be enraptured once again by the magic of New Orleans.

Armed with a Leica S2, three lenses (35 mm, 70 mm, and 120 mm macro), and two friends to assist in the process, Mannion and his small crew headed for New Orleans. Hardly arrived, and on his way downtown, he already asks the shuttle bus driver about the city and its people. And so began a relentless nine-day tour to discover the truth of NOLA, one referral at a time, guided by an endearing passion to discover and document the dreams and secrets revealed in the faces of its citizens and resilient structures. »I’d go and talk with one guy, take some pictures and then he’d refer me to somebody else. I’d go to the next spot, meet the referral, arrange a photo session, and in that same conversation receive a link to my next subject. It felt like the whole city knew each other,« Mannion reports, speaking of his chance encounters. He’s convinced that it’s the special aura of the city that makes it possible. »Everyone seemed really enthusiastic to help me complete the next contribution to the journey with suggestions on who to meet, where to eat, and what had to be seen. But what struck me the most was that they were really proud to give the suggestions, proud of their city and its amazing people. They became invested in the process with me.

They were my subjects and I became their subject. I felt an almost overwhelming sense of love and purpose with this realization as I moved from person to person. My trip was coming alive.« The generosity of strangers and notables gave Mannion direct contact with iconic New Orleans moments like the famed Super Sunday parade of the Mardi Gras Indians and legendary personalities like the Tremé Brass Band or Troy »Trombone Shorty« Andrews, as well as everyday people who are the lifeblood of the city. Instantly, Mannion made a lot of new friends. On the ninth day,

S 01 · 2012

SPECIAL THANKS TO ...

Yasiin Bey for your invitation, friendship, and talents Greg Solomon for your generosity of spirit The entire Solomon family (Quevon, Gavin, Bobbie, Steven, Sam, Reggie) Khary Darlington for your unselfish contributions Joshua Mann Pailet for your wisdom and vision Edward Hébert Celeste Marshall · Will Germaine for welcoming us in your beautiful and historic home Terrance Osborne for your vibrant masterpieces Stephanie Osborne for your sweet soul Troy »Trombone Shorty« Andrews for our first installment of »history« with many more to come Mike Kappus for making the magic happen Sylvain Restaurant (Sean, Khatira, Alexis, Chloe, »Mr. Hood«) for the delicious food and amazing atmosphere Phil / Rebirth Brass Band The Maple Leaf · Elder Banks for your blessings Souljah (his wife & kids) for your trust & for opening up your world to us Your 2nd line trumpet partner · Wellington Ratcliff · Raymel Cunningham · »The Master« · The Lugaru Daniel Fuselier for your brilliant murals Zevi · Benny Jones SR, Uncle Lionel, and the entire Tremé Brass Band ... I couldn’t do it without the legends! and The city of New Orleans for the energy that guided my incredible journey.

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Yasiin Bey finally arrived with just two hours of daylight left for the whole trip. Mannion embraced the moment to reconnect with Bey in his new home and shared with him all that he had discovered about New Orleans and its people along the journey. Yasiin’s invitation may have served as a conduit for Mannion’s personal discovery and reaffirmation of his artistic truth. Maybe Bey knew that Mannion needed time alone in the city without pretense or occasion to experience his own epiphany, find his own answers. And maybe sometimes searching for the answers is more fulfilling than the answers themselves.

These images document what the generous city of New Orleans shared with Mannion during those nine days of discovery, framing the answers he sought with divine light and pure honesty. Serendipity indeed.

Jonathan Mannion Jonathan Mannion, born 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio, began work as an assistant to Richard Avedon in 1993 in New York. Avedon taught him much more than the technical tricks of the trade. The grand master of fashion photography, also very successful in the documentary and portrait genres, also taught him at another level: namely how photographers achieve a rapport with the object or person to be photographed. For Mannion, the move to New York meant direct access to the cultural scene, art, fashion, and music. He was particularly fascinated by the emerging hip-hop scene. Mannion shot hip-hop greats and rising stars at concerts and in clubs on his own account, including P. Diddy, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z, for whom he also shot the cover for the 1996 album »Reasonable Doubt« – Mannion’s breakthrough.

In the meantime, Mannion has expanded into other fields: Today, prominent athletes, baseball players, fashion icons, Hollywood actors, and comedians stand in line to be shot by Mannion, and he has been published in numerous magazines like Rolling Stone. The past years have seen not only portfolios in which Mannion revealed the true character of the artists, but also the beginning of many lasting friendships. His commercial clients include Nike, Reebok, MTV and Coca-Cola.

k www.jonathanmannion.com

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04.04.12 08:57

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kirchknopf + grambow

»Two sets of eyes,« double inspiration, Plus »four-wheel drive.« The photography duo Kirchknopf + Grambow came together during their studies and are known for their striking settings and bizarre ideas. They recently put together an opulent sea of flowers for S-Magazine.

Interview: Katrin A. Ullmann

They met during their studies. That was 2008. Andrea Grambow and Joscha Kirchknopf have been working together ever since then. Although both are still officially enrolled at the University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld, they are meanwhile living and working in Berlin.

And the young photographers have already become a sought-after team.

Their works have hung in Rankin’s Annroy Gallery in London alongside those of Jürgen Teller or Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, and were shown at the Hamburg Deichtorhallen as part of the exhibition »Dream men – 50 star photographers show their vision of the ideal.« International magazines have published their work. Nevertheless, the newcomers have kept their feet on the ground. Their settings are striking, their ideas bizarre.

For example, they put together an opulent sea of flowers for the collection displayed on the following pages. The idea for the shoot had already existed for some time.

They made it a reality for S-Magazine, who they also spoke to about their work and production methods.

How would you describe the way you work together? Two sets of eyes, double inspiration, plus four-wheel drive.

Do you have a specific division of work?

No, in our work, each of us must be able to play every position.

What is your philosophy? In three words: fact fucks fiction.

Does blurring the boundaries between genres particularly appeal to you?

With genres it’s a bit tricky. For us the main thing is to always stay close to the person and a story. And as long as it’s good, the genre is unimportant.

Our work portrays our experience of the world out there. And that is seldom linear and prepackaged.

Your settings and styling are very peculiar.

What moved you to design them yourselves? We have adopted a rather holistic approach. We simply take an interest in the image in itself – with all its details.

Almost to the point of pedantry ...

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So that would make life difficult for a stylist? Do you ever work with one? That doesn’t mean that we have no interest in a creative exchange and other visions – if they are good. Of course we sometimes work in a large team, but there too we are interested in the picture as a whole and our concept.

What does fashion mean for you? Fashion celebrates the absolutely contemporary, the accuracy of the moment. Fashion is fun and is certainly a part of our photography.

It helps us. Maybe it’s a bit like in Star Wars or something like that – our world and the people in it also look like that.

How did you develop the shoot? Flowers in themselves have a long tradition as a subject in art and photography and have greatly inspired everyone from Caravaggio to Araki & Co. The alluring, luxuriously opulent, seducing you into the honeydew, and at the same time the morbid, the ephemeral: we are no exception here.

Even if this work is at first glance certainly rather untypical for us. But when we’re

Kirchknopf + grambow

in the mood for something or something catches our attention, we simply pursue that interest. Regardless of classical genres or categories.

The flowers are real, aren’t they? How did you arrange them? Our studio looked like a greenhouse. Flowers everywhere.

We went to the marketplace at 4:30 a.m. that morning with our florist and bought up everything. Building the set, including the watering system, took an entire day.

And Jana, our florist, arranged the biggest bouquet of her life. It was a bit like painting on a giant canvas – generously distributing color, stepping back, inspecting, then something more here, another splotch of color there.

The photographs show a very strong and successful interplay of structure and texture, of surfaces and materiality. What was it like finding an even balance there?

A good question. No idea, it just happens.

meaning for us, to give it a valid shape, and to share it. Since this doesn’t always work well for us with words, we achieve it with pictures. And as with every good discussion, for us it’s about confrontation, critique, respect. Simply about having a relevant dialog. And we don’t mind engaging in it with the whole world.

Model Luize Salmgrieze/Mega Model Agency Hair and makeup Tan Vuong/Basics Berlin Flower arrangement Jana Kirchknopf Photo assistant Axel Böllerbam Fashion Lala Berlin, Issever Bahri, Vivienne Westwood, Bless, Pendleton, RIKA, Mykita & Alexandre

Do you have (photographic) role models?

No role models. But there are naturally other people whose work interests us. For example, the films of Werner Herzog, works from Thomas Eakins, Louise Bourgeois, Charles Bukowski, and Leni Riefenstahl, but also a Harald Juhnke (a German comedian) or a Django Reinhardt, and many others.

Herchovitch, Bruno Pieters + Weekday, Vladimir

What are your next projects going to be?

Along with other new projects, we are currently busy with the implementation of the work »Duke Nuke and Fujiyama Mama’s Crotch,« which originated in Japan.

The German photography duo Joscha Kirchknopf, born in 1984, from Stuttgart, and Andrea Grambow, born in Rostock in 1986, have been working together since 2008. Their life and work is centered in Berlin. They met during their studies in Bielefeld, which they – in their own words – still want to finish with a diploma.

The young photographers’ works have already been exhibited internationally and have been published in magazines such as Fashionisto, kinki, Monopol, Musikexpress, Me.Style, and Der Spiegel.

Before beginning their studies, both worked as assistants for international photographers and lived in Sao Paulo, Munich, and Hamburg. Joscha Kirchknopf additionally works as a guest lecturer at the Blochererschule for communication design in Munich. Their works are conceptual, a colorful genre crossover, always close to people and a story. They primarily realize the extraordinary settings and styling for their shoots themselves and once even bought up an entire flower wholesale market for this purpose.

What sparked your interest in photography? Photography was simply the thing we felt most like doing, and still do.

Photography is an adventure. You get to know interesting people and locations.

Every time is a new and different a challenge, contrasting and always enriching.

We simply have a large appetite for it.

You are still studying photography, but are already well versed in the business – is that a great feeling, or perhaps a bit surreal? We are photographers first and foremost. That is our job, and we try to do our work well: titles and labels are of secondary importance. For around a year now, insofar as time allows, Joscha has been giving lectures as a guest photography instructor in Munich. A further exploration of photography – and that’s all that interests us.

Karaleev, Sabrina Dehoff, WeSC, Harley Davidson, Reinhard Plank, Monki, Weekday

Joscha Kirchknopf Andrea Grambow

k www.kirchknopf-grambow.com

That sounds very modest, very honorable. But doesn’t it give you a thrill? A desire for big projects, fame, and glory?

Of course – nothing is achieved without desire. Photography is, like every art form, communication. Not just as an end in and of itself and pure blather, but originating from the need to capture something of

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Photography Kirchknopf + Grambow

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Christophe Kutner

ALL-AMERICAN DIARY Fashion photographer Christophe Kutner drove with friends to the isolated stretches of Arizona. He brought back a poetic series of photos, an artistic mixture of love story, journal, and road movie.

Copy: Carla Susanne Erdmann

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Christophe Kutner

It’s not simply a story of a couple driving through, it’s just as much about how people live in these wide open spaces. Traces of civilization are found even in the most desolate corners – it is still home to many Apaches

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Christophe Kutner

The ideal of a day out in the country: breathtaking landscapes and – in the midst of it all – junk. The way the colors of decay and shattered glass contrast so beautifully with the skies possesses a certain surrealism

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he desolate landscapes in the far Southwest of the USA inspire Christophe Kutner. The light and the open spaces offer lots of space for projection surfaces, yearnings, and freedom. For him the thinly settled Arizona is an ideal backdrop. He is used to thinking in scenery, in numerous productions for Givenchy, Valentino, and Versace, but this time it is different. For the versatile fashion photographer with his artistic depth, these meager landscapes – and above all the fact that people live in them – are symbols of an authentic impression of the United States. »In addition to the fascinating variety of landscapes, there was always a fact

little known among Europeans, namely that when you leave the big urban areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, et cetera, you quickly see that many – if not the majority – live in mobile homes or on a small piece of land in the middle of nowhere.« This is how Kutner outlines his starting point for this production, which he has brought to life exclusively for S Magazine. Against this backdrop then, which simultaneously means both freedom and restriction, Kutner returns with a series of images that tell the story of the fresh happiness of the intimate life of a couple in the midst of desolate and expansive nothingness. »I wanted to share the feeling of being on

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Christophe Kutner

The horrors of civilization in a garden of Eden: The crummy motel we stayed in on our first night. Ironically named the Oasis. At least the reflections in the window panes of the room were good

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Christophe Kutner

On our trip, it felt like being on a holiday tour with friends. No false modesty, no taboos: I went into the bathroom, stole the moment, and was out again. It’s not set up, everything’s real

the road in these landscapes and to show the traces of humankind in those landscapes: street signs, construction sites, and cars, which seem organically connected with the landscape. And to illustrate the intimacy of a couple traveling through it. Because, when you are on the road, there are two aspects: during the day, you drive, and your eyes react to all these scenes, most of which you did not expect, and at night, it is the intimacy of rather cheap motels, which nevertheless have a homey feeling.« So Kutner asked Coco Young, a friend and model in her early twenties, with whom he had already worked a number of times, and her friend John, an art student, to

come along. Coco is often booked for independent productions and has worked a number of times with Ryan McGinley. Coco and John, two young New Yorkers, are not interested only in the beautiful illusion, but – in the midst of the landscape – also discussed things like the light-space artist James Turrell and his »Ganzfeld« (complete field) effects. This appeals to Kutner, who is interested in many different artistic directions and epochs. »Esthetics are not a superficial matter, but a philosophy,« he says, explaining that productions for brands or fashion often seem much too slick. »At the moment I am dealing increasingly with art. It bothers me, for example, that

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Christophe Kutner

Symbolic of a new generation: John and Coco are innocents, through and through. They look deep into the unbe­ lievable heavens over Arizona and discuss James Turrell’s optical theories – without ever a mention of Lady Gaga

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Christophe Kutner

Daytime temperatures climbed way up the scale on the long drag to New Mexico: A moment of sheer romance as we stopped to replenish our store of refreshments

campaign photos were defined much too much in the foreground.

When everything can be seen within the photo, then there is no room left for one’s own imagination.« A project like this is therefore a welcome change.

In addition to the protagonist couple, Kutner also took along as his assistant the producer Anthony Granieri, who otherwise works a lot for Peter Lindbergh. Granieri did all the background organization, like road maps and hotel bookings. The four of them started from Phoenix on a 5-day rental car excursion, during which Kutner carried out his ideas for the project. The result is a kind of journal,

the images seem almost like a film, without seeming staged. Kutner gives insight into his insights: »Since we were friends, I could occasionally open up the bathroom door and take photos while Coco and John were sitting in the tub. Everything is real. I work with people that I know and who have also worked with me before. I know that they accept my being close to them.« He also offers a glimpse of what is important to him in the future: to concentrate even more strongly on personalities, not on models, who only make their silhouette available and are interchangeable. With his master Horst P. Horst, Kutner saw the illusion

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Christophe Kutner

For me, as a European, a virtually iconic scene, symbolic of the American way of life. The wrecked car with its blue-tinged windows and delicate reflections touched my sense for the esthetic

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Christophe Kutner

We walked a stretch of the Geronimo Trail on the borders of Arizona and New Mexico. There was still snow under the bushes, despite the heat. I just love the backlight in this shot

of the flawless, of that which promises prosperity, in perfection. He himself has also adapted this for his customers. But at some time or other, he reached a turning point: »The goal of the luxury industry is to make us believe in things that do not exist, for example luxury for all. All you have to do is take a look at many of the countries in Europe or the true face of America.« Accordingly, the authentic and artistically free is becoming increasingly more important for Kutner.

For a long time already, he has been experimenting in his own projects with Polaroids and making experimental films. He dreams of soon following old Cajuns in Louisiana or punk grunge kids in

Massachusetts. »My next film project will be a cross-section of the various types of documentation; it will be photography as a medium for exhibitions and books, and beyond that there will be filmed material on the same topic,« reveals Kutner. With the project presented here, too, Kutner is moving in this direction. All that remains is the farewell one gives to travelers in the wild west: Ride on!

Models Coco Young, John Mercer Moore Production, mapping and behind the scene Anthony Granieri Agent for Christophe Kutner 2bmanagement

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Christophe Kutner

A wonderful moment: Coco and John, in their room. I grabbed a quick shot of them through the window while I was loading the car in the morning

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Christophe Kutner

For me, the rundown advertising sign from the sixties is a symbol of the state of the nation today. Poverty is growing faster and faster

Christophe Kutner »I grew up in a conservative family, in which a son is not supposed to follow an artistic career. My parents intended me to be a doctor.« Kutner, who was born in Narbonne in Southern France in 1964 and grew up in Paris, swam free of these preconceptions after just a few semesters studying medicine – too much mathematics, too abstract. »I believe, starting then, I had the urge to produce images that illustrate my imagination. Since I had never learned to draw or paint, I grabbed a camera.« After a period of self-study, he found a photo studio in which he worked and learned. By chance, at the beginning of the 1990s, he met the legendary fashion photographer Horst P. Horst (1906–1999) there, who hired him as his assistant. Since 1993, Kutner has been working on his own. In addition to jobs for fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle, Glamour, and Marie Claire as well as brands like Rolex, Shiseido, Nokia, and H&M, Kutner has done a number of free projects, such as experimental short films and »defragmentation,« in which he works with Polaroids. »Generally, I am interested in all kinds of art. At the moment, I am a big fan of Gus Van Sant, whose unusual esthetics and feel for presentation of the ordinary really inspire me.«

k www.christophekutner.com

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Christophe Kutner

Like gliding through the skies: roads as straight as an arrow, distant horizons and the gigantic arch of the heavens – the spirit of the USA. On the road that took us back to Phoenix, Arizona

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Does the word “Chronometer” have a superlative form?

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Technology

central shutter

EXPOSED! Leica is now delivering the first S Lenses with Central Shutters. But there is much more behind the »CS« range of lenses than a simple extra feature. A closer look reveals the new central shutter to be a true masterpiece of mechatronics.

Copy: Holger Sparr

S 01 · 2012

he old adage says that miracles always take a little longer, but the optional central shutter now available for all S lenses can certainly offer quite a few superlatives: it’s not only the most compact and high-performance shutter of its kind, it’s also the most robust and reliable construction on the market.

This shutter is designed for more than 100,000 cycles at speeds up to 1/1000th of a second. This far exceeds the original design specifications and everything competitors can offer, and it’s even more remarkable when you consider it was designed and built completely by Leica in Solms. A central shutter constructed by Leica is something entirely new, but of course, the Hessian perfectionists were aided by their many years of expertise in the field of precision mechanical engineering.

It’s well known that the S2 concept was built around a dual shutter system right from the start: the camera body already features a focal plane shutter with speeds up to 1/4000th of a second, but can also be switched to central shutter capability with the main switch as long as the lens attached has a corresponding integrated shutter. The greatest advantage of a central shutter in practice comes into play when using flash – an extremely important issue for professional photographers – because, in contrast to a focal plane shutter, a central shutter allows flash synchronization even at its fastest shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second. Thanks to its location at the optical center of the lens, where it is installed at a distance of only one millimeter from the iris assembly, it also works on the same principle as an iris diaphragm. In the case of a focal plane shutter, the shortest shutter speeds are achieved by a closing curtain that is already in motion before the opening

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CS ----------------The letters CS stand for »Central Shutter«, also often described as a leaf shutter

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For a central shutter, 1/1000th of a second is pretty impressive. Because, in contrast to a focal plane shutter, the aperture stays fully open and enables the use of flash at all shutter speeds curtain has begun to let light fall on the sensor. The shortest flash sync speed is the period of time in which the sensor is completely open to incoming light. In the case of the S2’s considerably larger focal plane shutter than those used in 35 mm photography, this is a minimum of 1/125th of a second.

At the same time, as flash systems must be able to offer extremely short flash duration while still delivering high power, fast central shutters push flash systems to their limits – a situation with which most older flash systems just cannot cope. Even 1/1000th of a second makes life hard for the wireless shutter release so popular with photographers, and this – unfortunately – means they have to dig out the good old sync cord to get the very best out of their S lenses.

WHY USE A CENTRAL SHUTTER? The additional three stops’ leeway offered by the central shutter can be exploited by photographers in any number of ways. For instance, it offers much better options for the suppression of ambient light in favor of flash – particularly important when shooting outdoors, where greater freedom for creative lighting is needed. With moving subjects or when shooting without a tripod, the faster shutter speed avoids potential motion blur from modeling lamps or ambient lighting. In the opinion of Stephan Schulz, head of professional imaging at Leica, »In the medium-format segment, you just can’t do without a central shutter. The additional leeway offered for creative lighting is precisely what sets top photographers apart from the rest. Many of our customers, not to mention rental organizations, have been just waiting for the central shutter to arrive.«

With typical Hessian restraint, Leica initially announced that the fastest shutter speed would be at least 1/500th of a second, a speed that has now risen to 1/1000th of a second as a result of persistent further development and patient fine-tuning. Leica now has a major advantage over their competitors, because, in contrast to almost all other camera systems, the Leica S2 is not limited exclusively to shooting with a central shutter, but also offers the advantages of a faster focal plane shutter as a builtin alternative. The Leica developers will definitely not be worrying about the fact that at least one competitor promises a central shutter with a top speed of 1/1600th of a second – as Stephan Schulz explains: »That makes a difference of only half a stop, but most importantly our central shutter is significantly larger than that of our competitors because we made a point of offering very fast S lenses.« An additional fact is that the ISO standards for central shutters allow amazingly generous deviations from the norm to the extent of up to 0.4 stops – an idea absolutely foreign to the Leica philosophy of providing the highest possible precision.

At a certain point, prohibitive mechanical stress on the shutter blades makes it impossible to extend the speeds of central shutters ad infinitum. Nevertheless, modern digital cameras offer a further option that also aids Leica and the S2, namely controlling the exposure electronically. In a conventional leaf shutter camera, the exposure process is complex. Pressing the shutter release first closes the shutter, opens, and then closes it again for the actual exposure, before opening once more to allow viewing through the lens. This means that the shutter must complete two full cycles for each exposure. As the S2 was

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Technology

conceived as a digital camera from the start, one cycle is sufficient. The exposure is initiated electronically by a special sensor function that is even more precise than a mechanical shutter and, in turn, enables shorter shutter speeds. The central shutter closes only after exposure to allow the image data to be read without interruption.

MECHATRONIC MASTERPIECE The fundamental operating principle of the Leica central shutter was decided at an early stage of its development, but despite this, the reliable technical realization of the idea required an enormous amount of detailed engineering that those unfamiliar with shutter construction may find difficult to comprehend. The Leica engineers set themselves a rather ambitious target: the shutter would have to be built with a very large internal diameter to enable the development of the – extraordinarily fast for medium-format – Summarit S lenses. At the same time, the external diameter had to be kept as small as possible.

As can be seen in the section drawing, it is just large enough to let the shutter blades fold away – a smaller construction is simply a technical impossibility. The length of the complete assembly for installation in the lens also had to be as short as possible to enable the construction of compact lenses. In terms of its compact construction and the ratio between its internal and external diameters, the Leica central shutter is well ahead of its competitors.

The compactness required made the development an extremely tricky business, because it prevented the use of certain construction principles – the use of electromagnetic control of the shutter blades, for instance – simply because there was no room for the installation of large capacitors to store the electrical required. »At the beginning, the trick was to find an operating principle to fit the limited space available and satisfy our performance specifications,« explains Stefan Best, head of process development at Leica and in charge of the central shutter project. So it wasn’t long until the Leica engineers found themselves back in the world of tried-and-tested mechanical engineering – because nothing can store more energy in a small space than a simple spring.

Via the springs, an electric motor with a specially constructed overrunning clutch tensions a ring that moves the shutter blades out by means of cams. The return action of the ring is controlled by a so-called switch pawl reminiscent of those used in mechanical timepieces.

The pawls are in turn released by solenoid-activated plungers and thus control the shutter cycle. As soon as the springs are cocked, the only active electronic components are the two solenoids – everything else is purely mechanical. In addition to the compact construction, the prime objective that the Leica developers had in mind, this

S 01 · 2012

This outdoor shot in St. Peter-Ording by Markus Tedeskino proves the Amazing capabilities of the new Leica Central Shutter ----------------------------------------This shot on the beach was captured with a Leica Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph (CS) lens almost wide open (2.8), at 1/1000th of a second, ISO 160, and with a powerful flash system. This combination of such a fast wide-angle and fast central shutter, and the resulting creative opportunities they offer, is currently unrivaled by any other camera system.

Photos Markus Tedeskino (www.tedeskino.de) Digital support Jakob Berr Assistance Boris Sedlacek Styling Julia Mader, Optix Agency Hair & makeup Stefanie Kroll, Optix Agency Model Victoria, Place Model Management Agentur Flash Briese Lichttechnik

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also has the advantage that the power drain on the system is minimal when the shutter is released. This prevents potential interference when reading the sensitive charges from the image sensor. Recocking the shutter requires a little more power for the motor, but, at this point, the shot is already in the can.

The central shutter construction contains only 42 individual components, but every single one of them is rather special. Taking a look at the section drawing, most people are reminded of a mechanical timepiece rather than a high-tech piece of mechatronics. It is tempting to ask a heretical question, namely »What’s so special about this construction?« Stefan Best has a surprising answer: »According to the textbooks, this shutter shouldn’t actu-

slide over each other with absolutely minimized friction,« says Stephan Schulz by way of explaining the manufacturing process, which is anything but low-cost.

The bearing mounts of the blades are equally important for shutter operation, because, as far as possible, kickback effects or »bounce« must be avoided to prevent the passage of unwanted light after the actual exposure.

Leica acquired a high-speed camera especially for the optimization of this tricky detail. Although it’s not visible in the diagrams, the solution to the problem is a cleverly designed motion inhibitor.

The true heart of the central shutter assembly, however, is the pawl switch construction that controls the cycle. The switching ring itself is manufactured from the

We pushed the limits of the technically possible in the design and construction of all components. ally work at all. But the fact that it does, and stands up to at least 100,000 cycles without any problems, is due to our exclusive use of modern, high-tech materials of the highest quality, and precision tolerances that are kept to an absolute minimum.« PRECISION SURFACES Just why the secret of this shutter construction depends more on the way it is engineered rather than the construction itself may become clearer when you consider that lubricants are only necessary in the specially encapsulated clutch of its motor. All other components operate and interact smoothly in the truest sense of the word, thanks to extremely tight tolerances and the ingenious combination of perfectly harmonized materials. After all, the last place you want to find abraded particles or lubricant residues is on the surfaces of the elements inside a lens. And that is precisely the problem that Leica discovered after only a few thousand shutter cycles in tests on some central shutter lenses offered by other manufacturers.

An extremely precise fit and a highly selective choice of materials is essential if you want to do without lubricants and more or less completely avoid abrasion or friction effects at the same time. »We pushed the limits of the technically possible for all the components of this shutter;« mentions Stefan Best, »there is not a single off-the-shelf component.« Let’s take a look at the shutter blades: they are made of carbon – maybe not all that unusual. But Leica doesn’t punch or saw them out – Leica uses micro waterjet cutting. »This is the only method that doesn’t leave us with microscopic burrs on the edges and lets the blades

S 01 · 2012

same extremely expensive high-performance synthetic material as the pawls, and the plungers that release them are made of special ceramics that, according to Stefan Best, guarantee absolutely wear-free movement. In the case of the two electromagnets that retract the plungers whenever necessary, a special material was employed for the armatures to increase both magnetic force and speed.

A lot of brain-racking also went into apparently insignificant details: the springs are tensioned within the ring, so there’s obviously still a little friction with the housing. So a specially manufactured strip of glass-fiber-reinforced Teflon foil was installed to cut friction and abrasion to zero at these points. Even these strips were specially manufactured for Leica.

Extremely smooth surfaces are naturally also essential for wear-free action. For instance, the steel axles are plated with a tungsten carbide coating only one micron thick, drilled holes are smoothed with a special honing technique, and surfaces are finished by electropolishing and specialized rotary finishing methods. On the whole, this is where the biggest challenges of the project lay, due to the fact that only very few suppliers are able to provide the materials required or can manufacture components that satisfy Leica’s exceptional specifications. Looking back, Stefan Best believes, »Finding the ideal materials and suppliers for the project took up considerably more time than the actual construction process. The central shutter is certainly the biggest precision engineering project we have ever taken on, and we often had to explore unknown ground to find exactly what we needed.« But the shutter was not the only thing Leica had to develop from the ground up, this also applied to numer-

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Main Switch ----------------The main switch is used to select either the focal plane shutter (FPS) in the camera or the central shutter (CS) of the lens

TECHNOLOGY

THE CENTRAL SHUTTER AS A KEY COMPONENT OF A LEICA CS LENS

ous manufacturing tools, jigs, and apparatus for testing and adjustment. A special assembly line under cleanroom conditions was dedicated to shutter production – believe it or not, that’s actually one step cleaner than the lines on which the lenses themselves are assembled: »We don’t take any risks in the assembly of this sensitive component,« is Stefan Best’s explanation for the enormous effort involved. Each individual component is painstakingly cleaned before assembly and, afterwards, each shutter constructed runs through an elaborate calibration process during which the results are saved to the ROM memory of the shutter control system to ensure that each shutter is completely up to specifications and that deviations in serial production are entirely ruled out.

Every shutter bears its own serial number that allows Leica to determine the materials used and the batch they came from even after years have passed.

FINAL SHOTS Leica’s central shutter is nothing less than fantastic: its 1/1000th of a second top speed offers considerable reserves for creative lighting. And, with a guaranteed performance of at least 100,000 shutter cycles per lens, it offers photographers the unrivaled reliability they expect from a Leica product.

What’s more, the unique combination of compact construction and a large internal diameter imposed no limits on the lens designers faced with the task of integrating the central shutter into S lenses, all of which are extraordinarily fast in comparison with those of other medium-format systems. The central shutter option is even available as an option for the new Elmarit-S 1:2.8/30 Asph – a real challenge in the case of such short focal lengths.

To quote Stefan Best, »Without wanting to appear immodest, we have taken only two years to solve a problem that other manufacturers are still working on after decades.« And Stephan Schulz adds: »Before you can establish a new medium-format system in the professional sector, you must be able to offer more than what the key players in the market have been providing for years. We have certainly achieved this with the components of the S system launched so far, and Leica is sticking to this philosophy with the new central shutter. This will once again emphasize the character of the S system as a serious tool.«

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CONSTRUCTION OF A CS LENS ----------------------------------------The name of the central shutter derives from its location at the »optical center« and, in turn, the center of the lens. At this location, it works like an extremely rapidly opening and fully closing diaphragm.

----------------------------------------The actual diaphragm of the lens sits back-to-back with, and at an extremely short distance from, the central shutter.

The rest of the lens is ultimately built around these two key components.

----------------------------------------The central shutter operates completely wear-free due to extremely smooth surfaces: his steel axles are plated with a tungsten carbide coating, drilled holes are smoothed with a honing technique, and surfaces are finished by electropolishing and specialized rotary finishing methods.

Techn0logy

Broaden Your Horizons With the S Adapter H, Leica now offers an opportunity to use all Hasselblad H system lenses with full compatibility on the S2 – including autofocus, central shutter, and aperture control.

Copy: Holger Sparr

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he Leica engineers have landed a real winner with the »S adapter H«: since its launch, all current Hasselblad H system lenses can now be mounted on the Leica S2, with practically the same functions as those offered by Leica’s own lenses. Full compatibility means that the autofocus works, all exposure control modes are active – including aperture and automatic program modes – and even the central shutter offered by all H system lenses can be used on the S2. In other words, using a Hasselblad HC lens is no different from using a Leica S lens, and scarcely limits the photographer’s options at all.

In a flash, photographers can now considerably expand their options with the S2, with around a dozen additional lenses with focal A UNIVERSAL SOLUTION

Thanks to this smart adapter, Hasselblad lenses can now be used on the S2 without any functional limitations

lengths from 28 to 300 mm available. The H system is very popular with medium-format photographers and is generally available from rental companies. The S adapter H now offers Hasselblad users the attractive option of switching to the more modern, faster, and more portable Leica S system, while simultaneously making the best of their investment in HC lenses. This idea obviously appealed to the Swiss photographer Thomas de Monaco, who has been a Hasselblad user for many years and shot the images shown on these pages: »For me, the Leica is a valid alternative because it fits in perfectly with my immediate and ›warts-and-all‹ style of photography. As a still photographer, I’ve been concentrating on the one-shot principle for the past two years.

That means no bracketing, no alternative planes of focus, and absolutely no corrected levels – with a single exposure as the result!« The S2 is a modern, compact, and fast alternative to the Hasselblad and, thanks to the S adapter H, a system switch is now possible without having to replace all lenses at the same time.

Leica already offered adapters for Hasselblad V, Pentax 67, and Mamiya 645 system lenses. As these somewhat older systems didn’t offer autofocus or electronic aperture control, the adapters were purely mechanical. But, just like the Leica S system, the Hasselblad H system relies on electronic communication between camera and lens, so a more sophisticated and extremely ambitious solution was the order of the day.

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Technology

Reverse Engineering

Built-in central shutter

First of all, the Leica developers had to find out how H system cameras and lenses communicate. They began by »listening to the language« and spent painstaking months deciphering the camera–lens communication. This is similar to what third-party lens manufacturers have to do, as no camera manufacturers – Leica and Hasselblad included – are prepared to reveal the secrets of their bayonet mounts and communication codes. On the basis of this knowledge Leica then developed a processor-based »universal translator« for the S mount and H bayonet, which had to be small enough to fit in the adapter ring. It soon became obvious that the younger Leica S system took a more modern approach with more precise distance sensors and higher-performance processors integrated in the lenses and that the adapter solution was going to have be an extremely complex affair. The processors in the S adapter H and the S2 would have to deliver the power to guarantee adequate autofocus, aperture control, and central shutter performance. The developers had to compromise: the autofocus in combination with the HC lenses can’t quite match the more sophisticated S lenses in terms of speed, but in terms of extreme focusing precision it can – and that’s what makes the grade in practice.

As the H system works exclusively with central shutter lenses, and all HC lenses therefore have such a shutter, Leica made sure that these can be used on the S2. When photographers set the main switch of the S2 to CS (for central shutter), the central shutters can be used at all speeds up to and including 1/750th of a second. The difference to the 1/800th of a second declared as the shortest speed by Hasselblad is simply because the shutter speed selection dial of the S2 only works in half-steps, and has no real effect in practice.

To date, the S adapter H is compatible with all HC and HCD lenses. The 1.7× con­verter, the HTS 1.5 tilt/shift converter and the extension tubes for macro are not compatible. The majority of HC lenses are calculated for use with the 4.5 × 6 format (42 × 56 mm), so any weaknesses at the edges are reduced to a certain extent by the somewhat smaller 30 × 45 mm sensor of the S2.

In addition to controlling all aperture, autofocus, and central shutter functions, the S adapter H also takes care of the correct communication of all data to the camera. The adapter recognizes all approved HC lenses and enters their parameters in the image EXIF data, complete with the aperture used. The communication of EXIF data is also important because Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Camera Raw can use it for lens correction. Leica provides correction profiles for first-order aberrations, distortion, and vignetting for all Hasselblad H lenses. This enables the further optimization of images shot with HC lenses and, in some cases, makes a noticeable difference.

The S adapter H offers Hasselblad photographers an opportunity to switch to the more modern Leica S system.

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The results are persuasive: Thomas de Monaco, a Hasselblad photographer for many years, was the first to put the S Adapter H through its paces

Leica S2, Hasselblad HC 2.8/80, ISO 80, f/22, 1/250 s

»For me, the Leica is a valid alternative because it fits in perfectly with my immediate and ›warts-and-all‹ style of photography.« Thomas de Monaco, Hasselblad photographer

Leica S2, Hasselblad HC 2.8/80, ISO 80, f/22, 1/250 s

Photos Thomas De Monaco (www.thomasdemonaco.com) Styling Andrea Maurer Props Nina van Rooijen

Leica S2, Hasselblad HC 2.8/80, ISO 80, f/22, 1/250 s

Techn0logy

This digital correction is clearly essential, because Hasselblad also relies intensely on it. The D in the name of lenses like the HCD 4/28 mm or the HCD 4–5.6/35–90 mm indicates that they are intended for digital use and that their designers have consciously taken digitally correctable errors such as increased wide-angle distortion into account to minimize other aberration effects and achieve more compact dimensions.

Thomas de Monaco is convinced that the more modern and advanced technologies of the S2 are also noticeable in the image quality: »The images shot with the Leica seem clearer and more precise, the shots from the Hasselblad are generally softer and warmer.

But that’s purely subjective on my part, and I wouldn’t want to go into details. What matters for me is the visual impact. And that’s where the Leica shines.« Even after digital correction, the images shot with Hasselblad lenses don’t achieve the extremely high performance of the Leica S lenses, but that’s not to say that the results are not just as usable.

Quite the opposite. As photographers don’t have to do without autofocus, program mode, or the central shutter, it’s as if the HC lenses were made for use on the S2.

So, as of now, S2 photographers can explore the store of Hasselblad lenses and find usable focal lengths that are not yet available as part of the S system. What’s more, Hasselblad users might now like to take a look at the Leica S2 as a more modern alternative. As lenses generally remain in use considerably longer than cameras, the Leica S2 is a modern, fast, and durable alternative for users of older H cameras with digital backs when looking for a state-of-the-art digital camera. Thomas de Monaco says, »I believe that Leica can turn the heads of many friends of Swedish engineering with this product and entice them away with top-class German workmanship. For a start, the new adapter means they won’t have to buy new lenses.«

Hands-on

Anyone switching from a digital Hasselblad and lenses to a Leica S2 will find a few things unfamiliar: not only the aspect ratio of 2:3, but the handling of the S2 is also more like that of a 35 mm SLR. A true expansion of the options usually available to Hasselblad users is the high-speed focal plane shutter of the S2, which, with speeds of up to 1/4000th of a second, can be used as an alternative to the central shutter. This means that HC lenses on a Leica S2 are now also well suited for shooting wide open in available light and also for capturing fastmoving subjects. At the same time, reduced stresses on the central shutter mechanisms guarantee a longer life for HC lenses.

For Hasselblad owners, the ability to use the fast focal plane shutter of the S2 as an alternative to a central shutter enormously expands their photographic options.

Built-in Brains

From the outside, the simplelooking adapter ring reveals nothing of the cutting edge processor technology inside that guarantees hassle-free communication

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Technology

Tethered Shooting

Allows full control and shooting with the S2 over a USB cable connection to a computer

THE PERFECT RAW WORK FLOW FOR PERFECT PICTURES Version 4 of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, included as part of the package with all Leica S2 models, now offers even more processing options and improved image quality.

Copy: Holger Sparr

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TEchnology

W

ith the step up to Version 4, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom now leads the field in professional work flow solutions: a new and more intuitive »Develop« module with noticeably better image quality, increased speed, and a multitude of new features finally make Lightroom the universal tool for photographers. It enables the organization, processing, and output of images for printing or Web applications. As it exploits all the benefits of the future-proof DNG format and handles and preserves all original image files like negatives, Lightroom is ideal for Leica photographers. Processing is nondestructive and does not change the original files, but is simulated in real time and only applied for output.

From the point of view of S2 photog­raphers, Lightroom 4 offers a multitude of interesting new features: in »Tethered Shooting« mode, previous versions only showed the images when the fully rendered image data set was transferred to the computer. In contrast, the current version displays previews generated in the camera almost immediately, renders the files in the background, and significantly increases the speed of studio work flows.

On the whole, Lightroom 4 is now much faster in handling large image data volumes such as those from the S2, because it only loads the data for the image segment required to memory.

The new »Develop« module is a leap ahead for Lightroom. This can be seen, for instance, in the new slider controls and processing options, and the noticeably improved image quality. The »Exposure« and »Brightness« sliders are now combined, while »Recovery« and »Fill Light« have been replaced by sliders that can add or subtract detail in the highlights and/or shadows. In addition to this, there are now also new sliders for »Black« and »White«, which only affect the extreme edges of the exposure spectrum. The number of tools that can be selectively applied with the »Adjustment Brush« has also been increased.

For example, photographers can now adjust the white balance and noise or moiré suppression on selected areas of their images. This makes Photoshop only

USB Connection

For studio work, fast USB 2.0 has proved to be the ideal connection for displaying shots on screen immediately after exposure

Correction options, speed, and quality: Lightroom 4 is better in every respect.

of Adobe Photoshop LLightroom using »Camera Calibration« only when absolutely necessary. Another important addition for photographers who print their own images is the »Soft Proofing« feature: Lightroom simulates printer output on screen with the corresponding printer color profile.

This also allows the creation of a second image version to allow specific image modifications only for printer output.

One new feature of Lightroom 4 that deserves a special mention is its support of GPS geotagging. This displays the geographical location of images on a map and allows image searches with this as a key.

The latest version naturally also features the latest profiles for all S lenses. If required, Lightroom automatically corrects distortion and chromatic aberration on the basis of the metadata contained in the image.

Selective Corrections

Numerous correction options from brightness and sharpening to white balance can now be applied selectively

really necessary for complex retouching work. Thanks to standardization within the Adobe product portfolio, the switch from Lightroom to Photoshop is completely seamless.

In general, the new »Develop« module brings more detail in the highlights and shadows and offers a much more intuitive use. As the effects on existing images can be quite significant, photographers should convert data from the old 2010, or even 2003, versions to the latest version

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For Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, the latest generation, Lightroom 4, is much more than a simple step up to the next version number: image quality, speed, and handling have been altogether improved to such a noticeable extent that the program has been catapulted to the zenith of professional work flow tools for photographers and digital image processors, and is, in every respect, but particularly in »Tethered Shooting« mode, an outstanding complement to the Leica S2.

S-League

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THE

S-LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS PRESENT A SELECTION OF CURRENT CAMPAIGNS. THE WEB SITE WWW.S-LEAGUE.NET AND THE IPAD APP CONTINUALLY PRESENT FURTHER PROJECTS.

GALA MEN

Olaf Heine shot the latest men’s fashions on the roof tops of São Paulo

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WARTUNG & PFLEGE Mode

Anzug aus Cotton Popeline, von DIOR HOMME, ca. 2700 Euro

S 01 · 2012 Hemd aus Cotton Popeline, von DIOR HOMME, ca. 390 Euro

Sandalen von BALLY, ca. 250 Euro

Sandalen von BALLY, ca. 250 Euro Dreiteiliger Anzug von YVES SAINT LAURENT, ca. 1900 Euro

P R O D U KT I O N & STY L I N G : J U L I A F R E I TAG , FOTOS : O LA F H E I N E , M A K E U P & H AA R E : C EC I L I A M AC E D O @ C A PA AG E N C Y, STY L I N G -A SS I ST E N Z : P I A S U N D E R M A N N , M O D E L S : LU Ã M AY E R @ FO R D M O D E L S , PAT R I C K B RAU N @ E L I T E M O D E L S , M A RT I N N E TO @ E L I T E M O D E L S , E X EC U T I V E P R O D U C T I O N: M I LA P R O D U C T I O N S , E X EC U T I V E P R O D U C E R: C A M I LA SOA R E S , P OST P R O D U C T I O N : O LA F H E I N E M I T E L E KT R O N I SC H E R SC H Ö N H E I T U N D M I C H A E L K Ü B L E R ; DA N K E A N P R E F E I T U RA D E S AO PAU LO – B Ü R G E R M E I ST E RA M T S Ã O PAU LO, A FO N SO C E L SO P RA Z E R E S DE O L I V E I RA A N D CO PA N T E A M , S RA . I N G E CO PA N , R O B E RTA D E L LA N O C E – S E SC P O M P E I A , FAC U N D O G U E R RA , M A R I N A – S E SC P O M P E I A , LO C AT I O N : CO PA N - G E B Ä U D E I N S AO P Ã U LO, B R Ü C K E VO M S E SC P O M P E I A I N S AO P Ã U LO

S-League

OLAF HEINE Gala Men

WARTUNG & PFLEGE Mode

Anzug von PRADA, ca. 1860 Euro

Seidentuch von PRADA, ca. 150 Euro

Schuhe von BALLY, ca. 450 Euro

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100 WARTUNG & PFLEGE Mode

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WARTUNG & PFLEGE mit: DEN SCHÄRFSTEN ANZÜGEN, DEN COOLSTEN CASUAL LOOKS UND DEN SCHNELLSTEN GROOMING-TIPPS

Anzug von GUCCI, ca. 1850 Euro Polohemd aus Jersey, von BALLY, ca. 395 Euro

Ü B E R F L I EG E R

Die neuen Anzüge sind wie

die Architektur von São

Paulo: klassisch, clean und

trotzdem

Seesack von GANNI, gesehen im Berliner Voo Store, ca. 120 Euro

ultramodern

FOTOS OLAF HEINE STYLING JULIA FREITAG

Schuhe aus Kalbsleder, von BOTTEGA VENETA, ca. 580 Euro  Gala MEN 201

Client Gala Men Production/styling Julia Freitag Executive producer Camila Soares/Mila Productions Models Luã Mayer/Ford Models, Patrick Braun/Elite Models, Martin Neto/Elite Models Hair/makeup Cecilia Macedo/Capa Agency Styling assistant Pia Sundermann Postproduction Olaf Heine, Elektronische Schoenheit, Michael Kübler Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph, Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph and Apo-Macro-Summarit-S 120 mm f/2.5

Wollanzug von ACNE, ca. 660 Euro

Baumwoll-Cardigan von ACNE, ca. 310 Euro

Tasche von LEVI’S MADE & CRAFTED, ca. 260 Euro WARTUNG & PFLEGE Mode

Anzug von GUCCI, ca. 1390 Euro

Polohemd aus Jersey, von BALLY, ca. 395 Euro

Wollanzug von BOTTEGA VENETA, ca. 2200 Euro

Trenchcoat von LOUIS VUITTON, ca. 1700 Euro

Baumwollhemd von LOUIS VUITTON, ca. 610 Euro

Anzug von GUCCI, ca. 1850 Euro

Kaschmir-Seiden-Polo von BOTTEGA VENETA, ca. 1150 Euro

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S-League

Pedro ferreira

Vogue Portugal

Client Vogue Portugal, No. 113, March 2012 Styling Paulo Macedo Model Margarita Pugovka/Best Models Hair Miguel Viana Makeup Cristina Gomes Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph and Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

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S-League

Peter Günzel

T d l M with Andrew MacGregor

Client T d l M Nonpareil with Andrew MacGregor, fall/winter 2012 Creative director Christopher Kelly Art directors Thomas Bird, Andrew MacGregor Paper sculptures Andrew MacGregor Postproduction Hendrik Wardenga Special thanks to Fedrigoni, Print Select, Netil House, and the sculpture team Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

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RONALD DICK

UNIQLO ADVERTORIAL FOR DAZED & CONFUSED embrace positivity with this season’s brightest collection

[opposite page] Emily wears long sleeved denim shirt; blue graphic t-shirt; short sleeved yellow stretch pique polo shirt

photography ronald dick styling nell kalonji

[this page] SEbaStian wears orange innovation project pocketable parka; red washable cotton v neck cardigan; linen long sleeved orange cotton shirt; indigo slim fit jeans

Bursting into spring with an exhilarating embrace of colour, Uniqlo’s new-season look is a celebration of optimism. The elemental Japanese brand’s modern take on seasonal pastels pops with bright accents, redefining an effervescent spring wardrobe of lightweight parkas, bold polo shirts and casual knits.

all by UniQlO

DAZED

CONFUSED

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spring into action

Client Uniqlo Advertorial for Dazed & Confused, March 2012 Styling Nell Kalonji Models Emily Meuleman/ Elite London, Sebastian Bregger/Studio Boyo Hair Paul Merritt/Jed Root Makeup Nobuko Maekawa using Mac Cosmetics Photo assistants Judy Roeder, Pau Cegarra Styling assistant Zsofi a Farkas Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

27/01/2012 13:36

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[opposite page] SebaStian wears short sleeved purple dry pique polo shirt; purple cotton cashmere v neck sweater [this page] emily wears pink innovation project pocketable parka; peach graphic t-shirt; short sleeved red stretch pique polo shirt; indigo super skinny fit jeans all by UniQlO

DAZED DC207_ADV1_Uniqlo.indd 90

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90

CONFUSED

hair paUl merritt at jed rOOt make-up nObUkO maekawa using mac cOSmeticS models emily meUleman at elite lOndOn, SebaStian bregger at StUdiO bOyO photographic assistants jUdy rOeder, paU cegarra styling assistant zSOfia farkaS

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S-League

Jenny & Lee Me.Style

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Client Me.Style Photo director Kristina Nagel Production Henriette Primus Styling Nicole Freeman Models Isabella Sulzbacher/ Storm, Niki Burton/Select, Lucy Chapell/Storm, Maryna Buniak/FM Models, Duncan Pike/Elite, Flo Dron/ Select, Ines/Storm, Max Barreau/Models 1 Hair Maki Tanaka Makeup Natsumi Watanabe/ Caren Postproduction Simon/ Recom Farmhouse Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph and Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

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Oliver Helbig DEDON

Client Dedon, 2012 catalog Location Dedon Island, Siargao, Philippines, www.dedonisland.com Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph and Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

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VINCENT SKOGLUND URBANEARS

Featured colorway

PLATTAN ZINKEN Available in MEDIS & BAGIS 10 colors:

Featuring PLATTAN ZINKEN Available in TANTO MEDIS & BAGIS 10 colors:

FOREST Featuring TANTO

PUMPKIN

Featured colorway

www.urbanears.com hello@urbanears.com

www.urbanears.com hello@urbanears.com

Feature 3.5mm standard microphone and remote.

Feature 3.5mm standard microphone and remote.

Photo: Vincent Skoglund

Photo: Vincent Skoglund

Featured colorway

Featured colorway

TOMATO

BLACK

Featuring PLATTAN ZINKEN Available in TANTO MEDIS & BAGIS 10 colors:

Featuring PLATTAN ZINKEN Available in TANTO MEDIS & BAGIS 10 colors:

Client Urbanears, 2012 fall/winter Color campaigns Creative director Vincent Skoglund Art direction Urbanears Set design Tobias Allanson Postproduction Kristian Ekeblom/ Finalize Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph and Apo-MacroSummarit-S 120 mm f/2.5

Feature 3.5mm standard microphone and remote.

www.urbanears.com hello@urbanears.com

www.urbanears.com hello@urbanears.com

Feature 3.5mm standard microphone and remote.

Photo: Vincent Skoglund

Photo: Vincent Skoglund

WWW.S-LEAGUE.NET

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S-League

Marcus Gaab Nine West

Client Nine West, spring 2012 Creative director Mark Kucharski Art director Whitney Mercurio Production James Jolly/AFG Styling Maryam Malakpour/CLM Models Hanne Gaby, Hannah Holman, Nina van Bree Hair Benoit Moeyaert/ Art Dept.

Makeup Georgina Graham Prop design Ron Zakhar Camera Leica S2 with Summarit-S 35 mm f/2.5 Asph and Summarit-S 70 mm f/2.5 Asph

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LEICA S2 A class of its own.

MD-MANAGEMENT.COM Eppendorfer Weg 213 | 20253 Hamburg +49 40 421076660 | Info@md-management.com

Working professionally means aiming for excellent results under the toughest conditions, achieving the strengths of medium format photography with the typical ease and quick handling of a DSLR. This is the idea behind the Leica S2. The S2 focuses on fundamentals and fits well-balanced in the hand, even when photographing in portrait format. With 37.5 megapixel resolution, its medium format sensor guarantees best image quality and a high dynamic range, even at higher ISO settings. The new Leica CS lenses ensure easy use of the focal plan shutter and central shutter, achieving the customary superior levels of performance.

Consequently, the S2 not only delivers perfect images, but also supplies data that can be immediately processed in all professional workflows. These are all good reasons why the extremely robust Leica S2 can give you a real competitive edge. If all these features were visible, it would never have been such an easy camera to handle.

You can find more information at: www.s.leica-camera.com

Model: Kat Cordts | Photo: Lado Alexi | Styling: Tu Anh Ngo | Makeup: Natalie Franz | Graphic design: Daniel Gailmann

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Leica Camera AG / Oskar-Barnack-StraĂ&#x;e 11 / 35606 Solms / www.leica-camera.com

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