Industrial photography

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Photography in the production process: wheel tires in the Bochum association
Camera teams at the Hindenburg

The industrial photography deals with the photographic representation of subjects of industrial production. The focus is on the means of production, the manufacturing process or, in a broader sense, their effects. In contrast, there is product photography with its focus on the goods produced. Industrial photography is also closely related to architecture and landscape photography .

Aspects

Industrial photography is used as commercial photography by the companies themselves for external presentation in order to present the company or the technical development and performance.

Artistic or documentary photography is to be understood as dealing with motifs from industrial culture.

conditions

Requirements of the objects

Industrial photography is considered to be extremely demanding in terms of technology and strategies. This is justified by:

  • The client has high demands for quality and message
  • very different scales of objects from the chip to production lines and objects in plant construction
  • very different lighting conditions (indoor or outdoor shots), also with mixed light
  • high demands on camera technology (large and medium formats) or light generation with generators
  • enormous time pressure when the recording is being prepared and the system has to be at a standstill at the same time or when the system is only available for a narrow time window in special machine construction
  • simultaneous occurrence of moving picture elements (people or machines) and static picture elements
  • Need for the photographer to understand the process to be photographed
  • an environment that can be characterized by noise, oil and emissions or, contrary, such as in a clean room can be inhumane.

Equipment requirement

The demands on the skill and experience of the photographer, as well as the equipment, are among the most demanding areas of application in photography. The equipment is sometimes very extensive in terms of investment (cameras and optics), weight (use of generator technology for light and flashes) and volume (tripods and light boxes).

Ambivalent requirements

Industrial photography often not only requires the representation of technology in the context of its functionality. In addition, there are also aspects of portrait photography of people who are to be depicted in your industrial activity.

Ambivalent requirements can also arise within an order to the industrial photographer because the client wants to see both a production facility and the product manufactured there in the picture. In addition to classic industrial photography, there is also product photography through to activities in the photo studio with completely different requirements.

These aspects can be expanded through photographic reports up to the creation of video or film materials.

Meaning of a visual language

As clients, industrial companies have clear guidelines for photographers. These requirements can include a defined visual language derived from the corporate design . The aim of such a visual language is the company's clear, authentic and recognizable implementation in photographs, regardless of which photographer was commissioned. This is important for companies that have global locations and place regional orders.

Subject specification

As part of a briefing on commissioned work, the client determines which statements or objects the photographer should process. Topics can be:

Role of digital post-production

Due to the often adverse working conditions, subsequent work in post processing is inevitable. Systems in use in production usually always have problem areas that cannot be eliminated on the spot.

What was the job of retouchers in analog photography is now done by digital image processing programs such as Photoshop. In addition to the original generation of an image file, the photographer must also master this. Photographic source material is usually an image file in RAW format in order to obtain the greatest possible scope for post-processing in terms of color, contrast, white balance, filters, gradation, distortion compensation, brightness, cropping, etc.

This post-processing is so important in industrial photography because various factors were suboptimal at the time the image was created. Examples of such problem areas in the picture can be:

  • disruptive visual elements such as logistical elements, dust, dirt, documentation, maintenance elements, etc.
  • incorrect picture elements, such as a visual malfunction message, because the system was stopped to take the picture
  • unwanted image elements such as reflections and reflections, mixed light influences, etc.

If, as is often the case in the food or pharmaceutical industry, the client wants the image to be as cool as possible, almost clinical, the images are trimmed in digital image processing to maximize the message.

history

The history of industrial photography is as old as photography. The early photographs in the middle of the 19th century were often socially or technically critical photographs that showed people in a "hostile" industrial environment. Industrial photography as commissioned work was mainly intended for depictions in brochures and yearbooks, but also very early on to illustrate the annual reports of stock corporations , which are subject to disclosure requirements.

Industrial photography later became a means of propaganda in Germany during the First and Second World Wars. The National Socialists in particular saw industrial photography as a means of showing the population the masses of weapons that were being produced.

After the war, it was more about highlighting industrial locations positively or recording changes in the industrial landscape, for example in the Ruhr area. For example, the photographer Alfred Ehrhardt received the order to take pictures for a publication by the Chamber of Commerce with the title "Hamburg als Industrieplatz". One wanted to avoid the impression that the Hanseatic city was primarily a port and trading center. From February to March 1952 Ehrhardt photographed companies such as Shell, Montblanc, Sanella, Steinway & Sons, Carl Kühne, the Allgemeine Telefonfabrik, the Bergedorfer and the Ottenser Eisenwerk in Hamburg.

In the present day industrial photography is predominantly a means of advertising , public relations and for industrial reports. Companies commission photographers to photograph industrial production. Industrial photography should show how efficiently and effectively means of production can be used , how complex manufacturing processes can be transparently visualized, reflect the level of modernity or show how aspects of occupational safety , job satisfaction and environmental protection are an active part of entrepreneurial activity. The industrial photographer is the mediator in the look behind the scenes of the company. These photographs are then used in advertising, for brochures or for websites. Recordings that industry associations require are usually provided for the association by members from the industry.

In post-industrial times, under the sign of industrial change, photographers of the genre today also call their field of activity business photography .

education

Industrial photography is one of the focal points of the 3-year craft photographer training .

Well-known photographers

literature

  • Lisa Kosok, Stefan Rahner (ed.): Industry and photography. Collections in Hamburg company archives . Special exhibition of the Museum der Arbeit as part of the Triennale der Photography, Hamburg, July 3 to September 12, 1999. Dölling and Gallitz Verlag, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-933374-39-1 .
  • Florian Schwinge, Martin Richter, Joseph Sappler: industrial photography . Peter Keetman Prize 2002 . = Industrial photography. Peter Keetman Prize 2002 . On the occasion of the exhibition "Industrial Photography" from March 2 to 31, 2002 in the Museum of Labor, Hamburg. Edition Braus, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-89904-013-9 .

Web links

Commons : Industrial photography  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Franziska Bossy: Eat me, machine! In: https://www.spiegel.de/ . Der Spiegel, May 22, 2015, accessed on December 21, 2019 .