Photo Productions are my club

Malte Jäger is a curious person. During this interview, we found out how he slipped into one or two situations and what it has taught him as a photographer. He openly describes his jump into stock photography, and we learn what he draws inspiration from.

Hi Malte, let’s get right into the nitty gritty – why did you become a photographer? How did that come about?

My drive is and remains quite clear: curiosity and the desire for emotions. That can create feelings, but I also like to feel myself. At my age, photo productions are what going to the club used to be for me. I meet many exciting people, laugh with them, sometimes suffer with them, and push my limits with them.

Curiosity can be awakened in me about people, places, and situations I could never have imagined. Or even about contexts that open up to me through my work.  If I then stir my curiosity with my emotions (in places and things) and the feelings of the people I photograph together, my kind of photography emerges. The medium of photography inspires me because, even after twenty years of dealing with it, I find this one frozen, extraordinary moment insanely exciting.

You originally come from a classic commissioned background – your clients include advertising agencies, for example, and your work focuses on people, lifestyle, and hospitality. How did you get into stock photography, and why did you decide to work with Westend61?

I still work mainly on commissioned work. I love working in a team and with clients to develop ideas and satisfy the needs of others in my way and in my career. This way of working gives me an incredible amount. Stock photography can give me that during an ongoing production as well. 

I was asked to collaborate by W61 and got curious. As always, ;).  Gladly, I wanted to try this way of working. In the meantime, it is not financially worthwhile enough for me to make productions, especially for the stock market, and to make advance payments here. In addition, I can do little with the motifs mainly desired in this market for me and my view of photography. Nevertheless, cooperation is still enjoyable for me because I always like to expand my portfolio with free work, and these can be partially refinanced with the income from the stock market.

Today we want to talk about your work and inspiration. Let’s start with your images. Do you have a photo you’re particularly proud of? 

That’s a tricky question. I’ve taken many pictures that I like. But others might be better at deciding that: I once won a World Press Foto Award with a motif a few years ago. At the time, I was stunned and pleased. I had never actually participated in such competitions, so winning on the first attempt was all the more exciting. I was delighted, on the one hand, because the award-winning works inspired me in this competition at the time, and on the other hand, because of the recognition. At that time, I wanted to be happy as a photojournalist and documentary photographer, even though I knew there was no market for that anymore. So I came up with my own project and applied for an art grant. With this help and a cooperation with GEO magazine, I was able to create a wonderful book. For “Couchsurfin’ the world” I traveled (almost) around the world on the tracks of people who used the then entirely new and very active hospitality network Couchsurfing.com. So I accompanied people on their journeys, on which they only stayed overnight with strangers, and photographed them documentarily.

I took the photo in the home of a sympathetic, nudist Couchsurfing host in New York City, who at the time had tons of Couchsurfers staying with him simultaneously—a wonderfully weird place. By the way, I spent the night on the purple air mattress with a blue-green sleeping bag in the middle of the room ;).

Where do you draw the inspiration for your work?

I draw my inspiration mainly from experiences and conversations with inspiring people. Subconsciously, I’m sure, also from all the media I consume. In these times, that’s primarily social media, especially in quantity, but indeed also movies and series, commercials, exhibitions, and the few print media I can still get my hands on. 

You have a distinctive look. People can point out your images and say, “this comes from Malte” – how did you get there? 

Thank you very much for the flowers. There’s nothing a creative like to hear more, at least not me. I heard this sentence at the end of my photography studies 18 years ago from my partner at the time and was delighted and, at the same time, very surprised because I didn’t see it that way myself. It is interesting to know whether this look has held or changed since then. 

In any case, I have no explicit role models from other genres or photography. Suppose I had to name a few inspiring artists. In that case, Henri Cartier-Bresson (my son is named after him, by the way), Ulrich Seidel, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and William Eggleston. I think you don’t necessarily see it in my photos, but I am inspired by their approaches to work. I like the plastic ordinariness that these artists embody, each in their own way.

In one of your recent productions, you explored the theme of sensuality. There is a clear dramaturgy in this series of photos. Does your experience in advertising photography help you here? How did this series of images come about? 

Sensuality resonates with me in each of my works. Creating emotions is my highest goal. Of course, this is more difficult to achieve in a corporate reportage on ship propeller production than in a freelance output like this one. In this case, I wanted to foreground the sensuality as much as possible, so I had to show it clearly.

A fun fact about this: The models had never seen each other before the production and went home together in the evening. So we all seem to have succeeded in portraying sensuality and bringing it to the set and living it.

Is there a photo you’re dying to take? If so, which one?

Thousands. But it’s hard for me to pick one. Right now, it would be a picture of an incredibly delicious meal 🙂

Malte, thank you for your time. Last but not least: We ask all photographers to pick an inspiring photo from the Westend61 portfolio (it must not be your own) – which one would you like to show us?

Thank you for having me. I’d like to show you an image of Letizia Haessig.