nordic europe Jul 2020

"Summer is here in Iceland with open borders for filmmakers thanks to the actions and responses of Iceland’s director of health. They seem to be working beyond our greatest hopes giving us a reason to be cautiously optimistic from this point on.

Due to the foreign travel restrictions to Iceland, the whole country is now literally empty and offers a unique opportunity, even more so than normal and that’s saying something. The biggest tourist attractions and hotspots are now free of all human interference in pristine surroundings.

Hero has access to state of the art camera equipment that can be utilised by local crews capturing scenes and landscapes never thought possible in complete safety and according to all government containment rules and health regulations.

We are allowing social groups up to 50 people. Studios and production houses now need to embrace a new reality in times of an opponent facing all mankind. This reality enforces a new set of rules on the production industry to ensure safety for all individuals.

We at Hero use those rules as an opportunity to exercise our creativity in film, TV and ad productions focusing on new solutions to drive safe content creation in Iceland.

Using restrictions as an innovative force is our forté and the current situation is no exception."

FOTONOKKA is a Helsinki-based photo production studio. Fotonokka was founded in 1972, and has since successfully produced photoshoots and campaigns for both the domestic and global market. Fotonokka teams take care of the whole production from the idea to results, bringing together the best crew and finally photoshoot and retouch.

"Food has always been close to our hearts. This particular Showcase, by photographer Elvi Rista, is all about our food and still life. Elvi’s creative talent is trusted by brands like Alko, (Finnish national alcoholic beverage retailer), Helsingin Sanomat -Finland’s largest daily newspaper- and Valio, a manufacturer of dairy products."

Elvi’s sensitivity to her surroundings is visible in her work. She has an outstanding ability to find fresh and unexpected ways to shine light on the best qualities of her subjects. She values teamwork, and her trademark is a unique way of seeing through strong, relentless vision.

Republik Film Productions is a powerhouse production company in Iceland offering quality film and photo service and production. The company specialises in TV commercial productions and photo-shoots.

Reasons to consider Iceland and Republik as your shooting partner:

• Iceland is now open for film and photo shoots. Foreign crew can travel to Iceland without having to go into quarantine.
• The health and safety of cast and crew remains the top priority: "We take great precautions and follow guidelines from health officials".
• Republik offers full service, from locations & casting to post production and online and everything in between. They also offer remote shooting if needed.
• Extraordinarily beautiful locations that are easily accessible.
• Aside from the nature landscapes, Iceland can also offer more generic urban and interior locations, even studio builds.
• Over 20 hours of daylight in the summer months!
• The exchange rate on Iceland's currency, Krona, is more favorable now.
• Republik’s production crew is resourceful and motivated with years of experience servicing shoots of all shapes and sizes.
• Iceland is known for its hard working and professional crew and talent.
• Republik boasts of an impressive directors roster of internationally renowned and award winning directors that are based in Iceland.

Ilja C. Hendel works as a corporate, documentary and portrait photographer in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. He covers a broad spectrum of topics but always with the same approach: to discover the motifs in actuality and on location. 

This way of working results in a documentary feel to his pictures - even though they are for corporate use in annual reports, new visual identities, portraits, reportage or travel features for magazines.

Ilja works for international corporate clients, corporate publishing houses as well as leading magazines on assignments in Scandinavia and abroad. Moving to Norway from Germany in 2006, he speaks Norwegian, German and English. Recent commissions and work in progress can be seen on his website and Instagram.

Photography is an art and a craft. If you are looking for a real photographic craftsman Søren Gammelmark is who you are looking for.

As a true craftsman Søren knows his tool and how to use them, and he has a great experience in many photographic genres. His main focus is however food photography, still-life and portraits.

With this palette of photographic genres and a robust ballast of many years of experience, Søren can solve photographic tasks such as cookbooks, advertising, restaurant marketing, product catalogs, lifestyle portraits and much more.

Visit the website to be convinced of the strength of a professional photographer who knows his craft.

Clients include Arla food, Hounö, De Cecco, BKI Food, Nordic Sugar, Weber-Stephen Products, Morsø, Bang & Olufsen, Scanpan, Beoplay, Hoptimist, Dynaudio, Der Feinschmecker and Gastro.

Minna Vauhkonen is a food photographer based in Helsinki, Finland. Minna loves to photograph with natural light and to highlight food and ingredients in her captures. She believes that good photographs create emotions and are of great value to any company working with food.

Food and photography have always had important roles in her life. Minna has written and photographed two cookbooks. Currently she is working with brands and magazines, on both photography and recipe development. Vegetarian food and healthyish baking gets her most excited in the kitchen.

Marcel Pabst's life long love of photography was born at a very early age when he discovered his mother's Practica. It was, however, a truck accident while he worked in a warehouse that made him turn his passion into a career. The encounter left him 10 mm shorter and he decided to put better use of his remainings and enrolled at a school of photography. He went on to work as a photographer's assistant in Copenhagen and started up his own business in Gothenburg 1996.

When this Swiss-born family man isn't working on his house in the woods of Hindås, he enthusiastically shoots pictures for clients such as Ericsson, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Construction Equipment, Carlsberg, Dometic, Arla, Smarteyes, Husqvarna, Thule, Hasselblad and many others who require images that speak out loud.

Gummi Thor is an advertising photographer based in Reykjavík, Iceland. His focus is on elevating the visual experience for the audience with dynamic storytelling and detailed lighting.

His creativity and spirit are his driving force, pushing him to come up with new ways to look at the world of advertising and finding a collaborative solution to make his images interesting.

Gummi Thor has a long history of collaborating with clients and brands to find the right visuals and stories for the desired briefs and business goals.

Clients include Vodafone, Icelandair, Dominos, Arionbank, KFC among others. 

“Solving problems is the fun part of being an advertising photographer.”

Architectural photographer Mika Huisman is known for his dramatic use of natural light and high-quality post-production. These have been his trademarks throughout his career.

He uses various techiniques to bring out the soul of the buildings he photographs, although he won’t let the technicality of the process overrun the subject. Success is no accident.

Mika's photographs have been published in a variety of publications such as A10, A+U, AIT, ARK, Betonprisma, Casabella, Detail, ICON, MARK, Prointerior Magazine, The Architectural Review, Uncube Magazine and Nordic Architects: Ebbs and Flows.

Recent work by Fredrik Clement included new images for TrackMan Baseball.

Fredrik shoots premium sports images and film, capturing the moment and the unfiltered emotions.

Unit represents Fredrik worldwide.

Mark Hobz, an Australian cinematographer and member of the Prestigious ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) has been locked down in Dubai and unable to return to Helsinki during the global COVID19 crisis.

He has been involved in an array of projects since, feature films, commercials and music videos. Working with international directors Pedros Temizian, James Almuhanna, Charlotte Evans and Lloyd Bishop, Mark has fortunately been able to lens for clients such as Emirates NBD, ADCB, National Bank Kuwait, Dermaqual, Zomato, Nikon and Government of Dubai.