Bernhard W. Schmidt does not photograph professionally but with passion. Since 1975 there have been attempts in various fields such as landscape and nature, the decisive impulse was his move to Hamburg in 1998. Since then he has been intensively occupied with the subject of "people in urban space, their surroundings and what they make of them". Street photography in classic black and white.

Groundbreaking 4 days in London in 1999. The "Streets of London" series created here was shown for a month as a solo exhibition at the Leica Gallery Solms in 2003, then at the Leica Gallery Tokyo in 2004. Some of the pictures can be found in the Leica Calendar 2003.

The magazine "Schwarzweiss" published an article by Bernhard Schmidt in issue 53 entitled "Wohin USA ?" with photos under the impression of the USA after 9/11.

More about publicity and awards: here.

My intention:

In times of overflowing information possibilities, the well-made still image has lost none of its strength and persuasiveness. It has the ability to be more than the fixation of a superficial visual impression, it can convey the character and atmosphere of the moment. At its best, it tells a story, less through the objective representation of reality than as a suggestive stimulus to look beyond the obvious. It remains a challenge to let this emerge in the viewer.

Black and white on film:

All photographs were and are taken on film using analogue technology and finished on classic baryta paper. The digital versions are scans of the large-format prints and are in no way post-processed. This is a commitment to analogue photography but not a statement against its digital development.

Technicalities:

The technique used to take a photo is of secondary importance; what is important is the content and the effect of the picture. If you are still interested in the how and why behind it, you will find this here.

Profession:

Anyone interested in my professional career will find something here.