Timeless Elegance in Vincent Peters’ Photographs. The Interview
Iconic shots that collect internationally famous faces, from cinema to fashion signed by the German artist
An internationally renowned photographer, his shots are full of charm and intensity, resulting from a careful construction of light, in which light becomes the absolute protagonist, shaping faces and telling emotions.
In this long interview, Vincent Peters (Bremen, 1969) takes us into the heart of his creative universe: a play of light and shade and the strong visual impact of his shots recall the aesthetics of the great masters of Renaissance and Baroque painting, transforming each photograph into a work with a cinematic aura.
Among his most iconic portraits are those of celebrities such as Charlize Theron, Jon Hamm, Monica Bellucci, David Beckham, Scarlett Johansson, Emma Watson, Christian Bale, Cameron Diaz, Vincent Cassel, Leaticia Casta, Kristen Stewart, Angelina Jolie, Cristiano Ronaldo and John Malkovich. In their expressions, light sculpts emotions and tells stories of beauty, charisma and mystery; each image is designed to transcend time, keeping its evocative power intact.
Among the largest exhibitions, Peters has exhibited a selection of his most evocative black-and-white works, created between 2001 and 2021, in Rome at Palazzo Bonaparte with the project “Timeless Time” and in Lisbon with “Sense of Time” at Palacete Gomes Freire.
In this exclusive interview, Vincent Peters reveals his approach to photography, the inspirations that fuel his research and the secret behind the ability to capture the soul of those in front of his lens.
Let's start with the beginnings: when and how did your interest in photography begin?
Honestly, I´m a one trick pony in the circus. I've never done anything else than photography. I went through the park with a camera when I was 10 and was fascinated by the light coming through the trees and the shadows on the ground.
Also, I have a problem that I can not focus on things I´m not interested in, so I was very bad in school. After I was asked to leave school at 17, my mother gave me 1000 Deutsche mark, about 500 dollars, and I went to New York to become a photo assistant. It all started from there. A long story...
Which photographers or artists have inspired you the most throughout your journey?
I was more inspired by paintings and movies, never just photography. I loved when light was defining the story, as in the Renaissance, or later the movies of the 1930s/40s where you feel the light is a character of the story. I‘m very drawn to atmosphere as we react so instinctively.
Pictures looking at us as much as we look at them. they make us react and everyone reacts differently, which is a very self-releasing process. In that way, looking at pictures takes us deep inside our emotional landscape.
Your style is often described as cinematic and full of emotion. How do you create this atmosphere in your work, and why are your images mostly in black and white?
That self revelation is the key to a subconscious door we can open, a picture can take us to a place we would not reach without it. Art or pictures are not destinations, they are a bridge that takes us to places inside our imagination where we understand things about ourselves.
A good photograph is a paradox, it's factual and mostly illustration, but at the same time it unlocks sensations which we would not feel if we look at the reality of what is shown. It creates its own, very intimate emotional version. - black and white is a good example for that - we can't see in black and white, it's an exclusive view to things that are photographed.
A landscape, a person, even a cloud in black and white becomes something different. A code that reveals its answers. A person shot in black and white is never the same person as he is in color. something happens.
What are the key details to capture the essence of a subject?
The aim here is to create the smallest artistic unit, the essence that holds the whole in itself—that moment, that detail that tells the whole story. It's almost like in alcohol, where you try to find the most concentrated distillation. That process reflects and reveals what you see in yourself.
You've collaborated with many celebrities and luxury brands. Was there a particular encounter or collaboration that stood out to you?
Many stories, it’s always very interesting to meet people who represent a canvas of projections of many levels for others.
What was the most challenging photoshoot you've had to do?
I´m doing very challenging projects lately, which are related to loss of control as an opposite to the premeditated work of computers or AI -but who reveal the luck of that moment. Today we work on a project with dancers of the Paris Opera about people falling from the sky.
You can imagine the technical, visual challenges. recently we´ve done a project of a burning man…. I’m provoking visual accidents and I’m amazed at what comes back to me when I develop the film.
Among your many projects, is there one that you hold particularly dear?
We just finished shooting a group of deer, different ages. Quite an experience, it took over 6 months to find the deer for the project. The way they react to light and the camera is very fascinating.
I remember they asked a poet to explain his thoughts of a poem, he said: "I could, but it would not be as good"; it's the same to explain a photographic project.
If you could photograph someone from the past or present, who would you choose?
That's a list to have... Muhammad Ali, Katherine or Audrey Hepburn, Anna Magnani, Franz Kafka, JF Kennedy and Maria Callas, Samuel Beckett, Picasso would be nice… I still hope for Mick Jagger and Harrison Ford. Thinking to shoot Politicians; I have a list of names!
With the rise of digital photography and social media, how has the world of fashion photography changed?
Let's say not too well. It's a big chapter on its own. Fashion photographs have become a disposable commodity, magazines have lost their relevance. First, the photographic essay disappeared, which was the beating heart in Photography with Cartier-Bresson, Weegee Smith, Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, and all the others. Now the Newtons and Avedons editorials are papers of another time.
Norma Desmond said in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ when William Holden said: "You used to be big"; she answered: "I'm still big, it's the pictures that got small". Today you can say that about photography as an art form.
What is your relationship with post-production? Do you prefer a more natural approach, or do you often retouch your images?
I go very far beyond the possible to keep that moment on film, to make sure the fire is real, the man is burning, the deer is here, and the accident, the unexpected, the loss of control will give me that picture I look for. I do a very specific image but I have to get there by accident.
What do you think of artificial intelligence in photography?
We should listen very closely to his creator Geoffrey Hintons, deep warning. Many photographers I know tell me: “Yes, I don’t like the idea but I play around with it and it’s fun”; well it reminds me of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, “The sorcerer’s apprentice”.
The attempt to rebel against your nature that leads to uncontrolled chaos due to the apprentices’ massive lack of competence. As of now, a machine has no intuition no kindness, and no emotional landscape or compass that is the base of creativity, but all that could come. they learn fast. What makes us unique is the combination of memory and imagination. let's see how long it lasts.
What are your upcoming projects?
Staying alive and finding meaning in it.
Interview by Fabio Pariante, X • Instagram • Website