The time has finally come, it is here!

The first issue of my web magazine, though it leans heavily on experimental elements; and it was quite a tricky shoot. All of the photos you see here are high-resolution images, created with specialized hardware and techniques to produce a panoramic perspective that matches human vision, including an appropriate depth of field. I don’t think anyone else has ever done this, but my sophisticated workflow made it a little more convenient to shoot the photos like this.

We had to scale down the images, to make them suitable for web, but you can get high-res versions of each image, you will gain access if you plan on supporting my work, for example with a paid account. Anyway, we put some high res examples in the magazine, so you can watch the differences, without spending a single buck.

And now back to the story:

Earlier this year, we set out on a photographic journey through two German cities, with our cameras packed and a decent plan in our pocket, we went on a hike through Düsseldorf and Wuppertal. Our journey was less about covering ground and more about showing the usual plain everyday world in panoramic perspective.

Traveling with medium and large format cameras demanded patience, a kind of slowness that allowed the cities to unfold in their own rhythm, and it took a lot of stress from us too. Nevertheless, the cities were vastly different in appearance and also in culture.

In Wuppertal, the suspended monorail trains traced delicate lines above the river, while the steep streets opened up to layered views, urban panoramas shaped by both industry and nature, as you can see in all of our vertical panoramas.

Düsseldorf, in contrast, offered a different pulse; modern glass and steel rising along the Rhine, offset by crowded alleys and monuments of vividness in the older quarters. Shooting panoramas here became a way of stitching together movement of all those people, architecture, and light bound into a single frame, a very long one.

Wuppertal’s streets climb and curve with the hills, and thus we had to walk a whole lot, at least 15km, which is a lot when you have to lug around several cameras and lenses. I guess it was worth the effort.

We got some great large format panoramas in color out of the whole story, plus we managed to documents a little of the urban culture, like all the stickers on lamp posts and traffic lights, cause they differ quite a bit between these two cities. Wuppertal’s street art scene and also the protest culture is way more political than anywhere else in NRW.

Besides the cool public transportation system, Wuppertal also had a lot of other things to offer, the architecture looks like it’s from a very different time, cause it is. The facades of the city houses are adorned with stucco and pomp, giving the impression of still being in the era of Kaiser Wilhelm, within Germany’s vanished aristocracy.

You will spot a few more examples in the image sets below.

Well, and then we got hungry, and had to hunt down whatever each city had to offer for lunch. It went quite well, and in Wuppertal we brought stickers to mod our insignia of power!

The crown looks cool, right?

We shot most of the images on digital medium format cameras, thus the images look far more detailed and sharper than 35mm or half frame images, even the ones we used very old lenses for. And just like I mentioned above, Wuppertal’s mix of very old but richly decorated architecture, and lot’s of new culture is very visible throughout the whole city. It might seem goofy or weird at first glance, but it definitely carries possibilities, and a thriving art scene.

Oh, and as you can see, we got an image of the most complicated mobile traffic lights ever.

We shot a whole lot of these vertical panoramas, to show how deeply layered modern cities are. And again, lots of visible artworks in Wuppertal, like the sporty dude on the huge chunk of concrete, next to his briefcase.

On the other hand, there’s Düsseldorf -with its moneyed elite, all the splendor, its world-famous fashion scene, and one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Yet the city also has a very visible and vibrant art scene.

As mentioned at the beginning, Wuppertal has a great deal of visible art in public spaces. This includes, for example, the enormous mural depicting the famous ballet dancer Pina Bausch. Or the rear waiting area of the art museum, lined with robotic pigeons, which we have documented for posterity.

Düsseldorf, however, also has historic architecture to offer, which blends effortlessly between modern highrises and buildings that look more like contemporary art. The Old Town and the artists’ quarter are excellent examples of this successful mix of styles. All of these perfectly harmonizing contrasts become even more visible in the vertical panoramas, this is why we built this issue of the magazine entirely around that format. We hope you enjoy it!

Lastly, a quick note about the photographs. We had to scale each image down significantly, since the originals are often between 150 and 200 megapixels, and the file size -even as JPGs, becomes very large. However, we’ve included some of the photos again in their original size as text links. When you open one in a new browser tab and let it fully load, you can see for yourself how much the resolution and the perspective compression shape the overall impression of the image.

We hope you like the content, until next time…

On a personal note:  The production of photos like these—especially ones that require a lot of planning and specialized equipment—unfortunately costs a lot of money. I have a deep passion for photography and cinematography, and of course, I’ll continue creating. However, you can make it easier for me, for example, by supporting my work with a small contribution.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed it and had fun looking at our photos!