PHOTOPIA 2022 #8891

Thomas Pöhler Born 1966 in Germany. Photographer, photo podcaster and digital artist with intermittend nerdy tendencies. Early on, Pöhler was fascinated by the possibilities of cutting out parts of paper prints and stitching them together. This way he was able to extend his only 50mm lens to take wide-angle shots. With the digital possibilities, he began 360° photography. These shots are basically a sphere with the viewer in the centre. They are characterised by the fact that, especially with VR glasses, one experiences a scene very close to reality and authenticity. For his digital art these basic equirectangular shots are projected into a different representation. The intended image effect is largely determined by the camera position. The tripod's location is important, but also the camera height is crucial - this may be close to the ground, at eye level, on a 3 meters high tripod or even higher. The final result becomes visible not before extensive, time consuming post-processing. Hence it takes some experience to anticipate where the appropriate camera position has to be. His image in the photopia collection was part of his exhibition at Europe's largest outdoor photo festival “Festival La Gacilly Baden Photo“, where he exhibited in 2022 among others such as Nick Brandt and Ragnar Axelsson.