Questions for Ralph Gräf – Photo Contest “Opposites”

When did you get started in photography?

My father loved photography and gave me my first camera when I was just 8 years old. I then bought my first SLR camera when I was 16 with money I had earned myself.

Is photography your hobby or your profession?

I am an amateur photographer and earn my living as a professor of cell biology at the University of Potsdam.

How and where was the image taken that you entered in the competition? Is there a story behind it?

The picture was taken on a winter tour through the hinterland in search of rural motifs. I happened to pass an abandoned former Soviet military base, where huge wind turbines had been erected behind the abandoned prefabricated buildings of the soldiers’ families, which were already visible from the road. The picture fit well into my series called “Plattenbau Swansong”, which I’ve been working on for some time.

Who and/or what inspires you most?

That’s hard to say , as one is constantly exposed to images whose photographers you often don’t even remember. I am particularly fascinated by the works of Gregory Crewdson, Nadav Kander, Andreas Gursky, Wim Wenders, and Peter Bialobrzeski, to name a few.

What’s your photographic focus?

I like to work on conceptual scenes of unadorned villages and small towns, but I have also worked on staged photos, as in my best-known series “The Traveller”, and I enjoy landscape photography.

What’s your next photo project, your next challenge?

At the moment I am working on my series “Brandenburg Unplugged” and “Anhalt Blues”.

Do you include color management in your photographic workflow?

Color management is of course crucial for ensuring that my printed images look the same in exhibitions as I have edited them on the screen.

What do you do with your photos? Do you print them, post them on your social media accounts or your website or do they simply stay on your hard drive?

I prefer to show my pictures in exhibitions. Of course, there isn’t always an opportunity for that. I have also produced an exhibition catalog and published a book for the series “Brandenburg Unplugged”.

What’s your photographic goal? What do you dream of?

I would like to publish more photo books and zines about my series. I dream of being able to show a large exhibition of my work at a bigger venue. But for that I’ll have to become better known and invest more time. I’ll probably have to wait until I retire…

About the author – Ralph Gräf

I am 58 years old and have been taking photographs since I was young, but it wasn’t until I moved to Potsdam in 2006 that I found a creative environment that inspired me to use my free time for my artistic pursuits.. Together with 11 of my friends I formed the board of trustees of “Fotogalerie Potsdam e.V.” (Photo Gallery), an association for the promotion of contemporary photography. My photographic work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions and has been successful in national and international competitions. My biggest successes so far have been winning the travel category at the Sony World Photography Award 2017 and winning the Pangea Prize at the Siena “Creative Photo Award” in 2020.