vienna Nov 2011

Karafiat represents a select pool of photographers, each with a different style and look to their pictures. The agency offers an all-inclusive package of services, including location scouting, styling, set design, studio hire, post production, and much more.

Karafiat is convinced that quality multiplies with the personal care and excitement that is put into every single production. The company only represents a small pool of top photographers in order to guarantee the maximum personal assistance for clients throughout the creative process.

From the initial idea to the final picture, Karafiat provides excellent service and complete satisfaction across an entire production.

Since 2005 the demand for sophisticated, rich in content and expressive visualisations has dramatically increased. Caroline Seidler visualises creative ideas, texts rich in content, technical processes, facts, moods and messages.

The company has successfully produced annual reports (Telecom, Raiffeisen, EVN, Stiftung Esterhaszy and Wiener Börse) as well as classic advertising (food, pharmaceutical industry, accessories, furniture and brands), corporate publishing (Maxima, frisch gekocht, Friends and Card Complete), and editorial (Cosmopolitan, Falstaff, Jewel, Kids Wear, Style in Progress, Stern, Schaufenster and Rondo).

Clients include design studios, advertising agencies, publishing companies, direct clients including lawyers, management consultants, banks and insurance firms, as well as trading and industrial companies. 

Founded by Caroline Seidler in 2004, the company has received numerous awards including CCA, ADC Europe, Cannes Festival, Binder Award, International Advertising Festival of New York, Lürzers, Novum, Freistil, Poster4tomorrow and the Children and Youth Book Prize of the City of Vienna.

Fairy tales and water pixies, cool guys and graceful ballet dancers - above or below the water level Susanne Stemmer's images always tell fascinating stories.

Based in Vienna, Susanne travels a lot and works internationally for advertising agencies and magazines.

Photographer Friedrun West studied fashion and textile design in Vienna as well as painting and graphic design at the University of Applied Arts. She started her professional career as a self-employed graphic artist then switched to advertising photography. She owns Vienna’s biggest photo studio but still prefers to take photos on location. She especially loves digital artwork, from the original photo right through to the final print.

Friedrun has created a lot of photo artwork for packaging clients and has generated an extensive fruit and plant archive for the for her product images.

"Digitally, everything is possible.“

"The portrait. It is more than just a brief glimpse of a person. It can be the reflection of the soul, a soft centre in a hard shell, the hidden child inside a man, a strong will or simply a visualisation of competence in the eye of the beholder."

Karl Michalski is renowned for his sensitive portraits, which he creates for clients on a daily basis. He has been a freelance photographer for 20 years, and with equipment that is always up to date his secret is his on-location work. It is only on location, in the natural surroundings of his projects, that the most beautiful and natural atmosphere can be achieved.

Adsy Bernart is a highly versatile multi-talented photographer with international experience and skills across a range of photographic genres. He shoots architecture, HDRi, interiors and exteriors, portraiture, still life, food and drink, and also has experience in compositing and post production.

Adsy offers a professional yet highly unique photographic point of view. Clients regularly trust him to create and deliver even the most abstract visual themes.

His clients include advertising agencies and international newspapers and magazines. Adsy publishes in many European countries as well as in the USA, Japan and Australia. He also teaches photography at the Federal Graphic Institution of Higher Learning, Vienna.

Christian Stangl's exhibition 'Habitat' was shown in February in the Vienese gallery Kabelwerk. The exhibition unites two of his photographic topics, which are completely contrary at first sight: architecture and mushrooms! "One is created by humans and enormous, the other is organic and tiny. Both are habitats. In the buildings we live, inside the mushrooms live small creatures, like spiders, snails and insects. You can barely see the inhabitants, but you can see their tracks."

The ARTspace KA12 in the Palais Kabelwerk was used to confront and connect both sides. "Strange, sinister and fantastic, our world as an unknown place, light-years away."

Christian Stangl photographs nightmarish scenes in cities, roads, caves and forests. He is constantly looking for the strange dark side of motifs, organically as well as anorganically.

Visit his website for more information and to see more of his projects.

Marcel A. Mayer discovered photography with his first camera and a TV commentary about Michel Comte at the age of 12. Since 1998 he has intensively engaged himself with photography. After an apprenticeship, he assisted renowned photographers including Peter Ginter and travelled the world. In 2004 he completed his education with a Masters certificate in photography.

No location is too far away for Marcel, with shoots in Kuwait, Madeira, Venice, Ireland, Belgium and Morocco, to name just a few. He works mainly for fashion labels and advertising agencies in Switzerland and Germany, including Wolford, aéthérée, Heinrich Brambilla, Lothar Daniel Bechtold, Dachcom, Kainz, ammarkt, zurgams, Liebherr, MTU, Hirschmann Automotive and Gebrüder Weiss.

Marcel and his two employees are based in Höchst, Austria. Visit his website and blog for more information and making-of videos.

Salzburg-based photographer Andy Fox was recently assigned by Focus and FAZ magazine to portray German Apnoe diver Anna von Boetticher and her free diving partner Andrea Zuccari pursue their world record attempt. The pair succeeded and are now official world record holders in the Apnoe discipline 'Tandem No Limits', breaking the 125 meters depth barrier - of course with no oxygen bottles! Andy shot on-location in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Adi Mayer was founded in Vienna in 1923. The company produces and services a wide range of media including photo, commercials, feature films, documentaries, viral shorts and animations.

Building custom fit solutions for every new production, Adi Mayer applies its unique expertise and strong sense for quality images. Carefully selecting its partners and then putting its heart and soul into every project, the company always tries to bring together people who will complement and inspire each other.

Adi Mayer is constantly open to new ideas and new directors, photographers and VFX animators. The team loves being part of a tailor-made network operating from Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Bratislava, Istanbul, Vienna and Los Angeles.

Founded in 1999, Making Of is Austria's leading agency for photo productions, make-up, hair and styling, setting the standard for quality and professionalism.

Making Of handles all aspects of photo productions, including location scouting, casting, make-up and hair styling as well as production management. For more information contact Martina B. Cerny.

The company chooses from a wide range of make-up, hair, fashion, food and set styling professionals along with designers for promotional outfits.

For more information contact Martina B. Cerny.

Sergej Benedetter is an internationally renowned make-up artist, hair stylist and luminary between art and fashion. Born in Russia in 1969, Sergej moved to Vienna in the early 90s with nothing but his creativity. He soon became a make-up artist and hair stylist for top models around the globe, and also began working on prestigious photo productions. These jobs brought him permanent engagements in cities such as Milan, Paris, Tokyo, London, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Sergej's talent has been in great demand worldwide for over 15 years, working for international clients such as Harper´s Bazaar, Vogue and Madame Figaro. His vision has been well received across a variety of different genres as he was among the first to seriously explore the area between styling and art.

He has participated in fashion shows all over the globe and has worked for international clients such as Mercedes, Villeroy&Boch, Adidas and many more. As of 2009, Sergej has been official head of hair and make-up for MQ Vienna Fashion Week. Recently he has worked on the photo productions and castings for Great Length, L'Oreal and Schwarzkopf, and for the fashion shows for Schwarzkopf and L'Oreal with various star coiffeurs.

Featured in this Showcase is a job for DM shot by Joachim Haslinger.

This special location with it’s New York flair is ideal for photo shoots, presentations, press conferences, exhibitions, fashion shows, special events, castings, film shoots... the possibilities are endless.

White walls, concrete floors and steel columns are witnesses of the aspiring industrial age. After many years left derelict it was the creative industry that revived this extraordinary location, making use of what was already useful 100 years ago - natural daylight. The continuous glass roof provides perfect conditions for photography and combines with a classical 100m² loft, which has additional possibilities to offer.

There are parking options in the backyard and deliveries are made easy through the gate on the ground floor. Additional facilities include wireless Internet, an ipod docking station, hi-fi system, and a backstage room for styling, make-up, and catering.

Visit the website for more information.

digitalkameraverleih opened its new shop at Halbgasse 25, 1070 Vienna in December 2010, and has thus arrived in the heart of the city's 'photographers' district'.

As of 2011, the company is an authorised Pentax Partner and offers the Pentax 645D digital medium format camera with a range of nine excellent lenses both for rent and sale.

digitalkameraverleih recently extended its range of Profoto equipment with Pro-8a, Pro-7a and Pro-B3 generators and many new lighting accessories, including Chimera softboxes with quick release speed rings. For maximum protection during transport, only Tenba Aircases are used for its top-of-the-line Profoto gear.

The company is also proud to be the only rental store in Vienna to offer the latest MacBook Pro with 17" anti-glare display and a comprehensive software package. In addition, clients can rent the iWorkCase with HyperJuice battery - a perfect tool for productions on location.