In ‘Palazzo’, Sarah Storch plays around with the pirate theme. At the historic Saal de Pologne in Leipzig, she staged model Pia in eccentric, rebellious looks by stylist Lisa Filippini.
You live and work as a photographer in Leipzig, which is not a particularly large or small town. Do you feel you can develop there or are you drawn to head somewhere else?
First of all, Leipzig has been my second home for a long time now. I feel that this is totally my place, even if, from a photographic perspective, there are also challenges. The art scene itself is definitely a big one and has a lot of potential. It affects me insofar that there are no large model agencies or magazines located here, and not many designers. That’s the reason I also work a lot in Berlin and move back and forth between the two places.
How did you get into photography?
I come from a small down in Thuringia and, after finishing highschool, I was looking for a creative endeavour, which actually came right to me, because my best friend back then wanted to give me a calender. So we borrowed a camera and went to a house that was being demolished close by. I had so much fun that I bought myself a camera and photographed with it for a long time. From today’s perspective I would say that I was already staging my first portraits. This was followed by a wish to train as a photographer, which is why I ultimately ended up in Leipzig.
Fashion and portraits are your fields; are there differences in the way you approach the two, or how do you deal with the two genres?
Speaking spontaneously, I would say no. With portraits the focus probably lies more with the person, even though I often introduce playful elements as well. With fashion the amount of work involved is definitely bigger and the elements I use are planned, while with portraits it often just happens.
Your work is more artistic and less commercial. How would you describe your style?
This question is no necessarily easy for me to answer, because right now my style is once again developing in a new direction. At the moment I’m trying to make my work cleaner, more reduced and focussed, without losing my own signature. I’m also convinced that the themes you choose for a picture always have to do with yourself or with events in your personal life, and that plays a big role in the final outcome.
What is the Palazzo story you produced for S magazine about?
The basic idea was in fact the theme of pirates. I had stumbled somewhere across a picture in a magazine, and, because I always like to stage things, I started out by asking my trusty flower expert (Birgit Steinhage of Saltoflorale) what she thought about it. So we collected ideas together and the Saal de Pologne was the perfect location to pull it off in.
How was the photo shoot on location at the Saal de Pologne?
The photo shoot was great. The communication and organisation was uncomplicated. Many thanks once again to the team at the Saal de Pologne – I’m ready to photograph there again at any time.
At first, the lighting conditions weren’t optimal because I mostly work with Available Light, but thanks to the quality of the Leica it was possible to photograph with an high ISO setting. What’s more I like to work with a grainier look, as that’s often belongs to my imagery.
You like to take analogue pictures. How did you find working on this project with the digital Leica SL?
It’s only recently that I’ve once again started working more in analogue; but on principle I always have both analogue and digital cameras on hand at my photo shoots, because it offers me more security and also diversity.
I’m a big Leica fan, and I managed to work very well with all the features. In this respect, my experience in the field of camera consultancy/sales was surely useful. At first the manual focus requires a small adjustment; but the longer you work with it the more you like this way of photographing, and you don’t tend to want to work with the auto-focus.
What do you want to achieve in the future with regard to photography?
I would like to be able to look back on my photo series and, in the best case, be satisfied with all of them. I’d also like to have the opportunity to work on complex productions with big budgets, and hope to find clients who have confidence in my work. Furthermore, I’d like to do photo series in other countries and introduce cultural aspects in them. I’m a very ambitious person and I hope to achieve my aims as quickly as possible.
