2 Nominations – Spider Awards 2008 – Black & White Photography

Judged by the most respected names in black and white photography - The 4th annual Black & White Spider Awards 2008. I was honored as a nominee for the category of Advertising | Professional and for the category of Sports | Professional

The judging panel for the Black and White Spider awards consists of leading representatives of (among others) : Sotheby’s (London), Tate Gallery (London), Fratelli Alinari Museum (Florence), Magnum Photos, VII Photo Agency (New York), LIFE Magazine, Man Ray Trust, ILFORD PHOTO (UK), Photo District News (PDN), Photo Life Magazine ( Canada), Artrepco (Zürich), Leica Photo Gallery (São Paulo), Communication Arts, Lens Work, Heffel Fine Art, BIPP, ACMP, NZIPP, Hamiltons Gallery, Galerie Baudoin Lebon (Paris), Torch Gallery (Amsterdam), Byron Gallery (Sydney) …

None of my images did make it to the winners sections, but to see my stuff in the neighborhood of top professional photographers like James Russel , Howard Schatz , Jim Krantz , Nicola Majocchi (especially in categories like professional advertising and professional sports photography) is an ample reward for my first contribution to this contest. And I would have to adapt my upcoming submissions – this contest is heavy on the ‘arts’. Although this could have been identified BEFORE when looking at the judging panel.

Riva Diva – This shot works better in color. It was converted to a ‘black and white’ just for the Black & White Spider Awards. It was a commissioned shooting for the promotion of the classic Italian Riva Boat. As with most private assignment shootings, budget was (very) low and the couple who owns the Riva Boat was misused for the model-job as well. Location lake ‘Traunsee’, Austria, Europe.

→ For a color version and more images by this series see Classic Riva Boat .

I’m specialised in ‘On Location’ shootings. I never have used (nor owned) a flash in my life. Nor do I work with other equipment tools, assistants, etc. Just the cam and me. This gives me a great flexibility, ‘room to move’, and full concentration on the sujet. Btw, in this case it wouldn’t have been even possible to position equipment stuff around the scene (except for the small pier, there was only the lake around). The soft available light, just before the sunset, was used to enlighten the scene, lifting off the foreground scene against the silhouetted background and adding a nice 3-D effect to the image (can usually be seen in a larger version of the image only).

At the time of shooting I had more variations of this scene in my head. More fancy ones. But after I had chased the couple across the lake for nearly 4 hours they denied to do more (especially the female model). Btw, hours of mostly full speed boating, and the huge good old Cadillac V8 in the rear of the 1958 Riva boat had dry sucked the boat’s fuel cell a bit. And close to the pier lured a very nice garden restaurant.

I usually prefer to work with quite normal people or semi-pro models for a more ‘real-life’ expression. But hey, they were the clients and owners and I couldn’t lash ‘em like I would have done it with ‘real’ models.

Classic Racing – Professional Sports Photography. The shot shows a classic German Grand Prix race car Veritas 2000 RS model year 1948. Historic race car and classic car event. Rainy conditions, Salzburgring, Austria.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS HONORS PHOTOGRAPHER REINFRIED MARASS OF AUSTRIA
LONDON 19. Oct. 2008 – “Judged by the most respected names in photography”- Professional photographer Reinfried Marass of Austria was presented with the 4th Annual Black and White Spider Awards Nominee in the category of ”Professional Advertising Photography” and “Professional Sports Photography” at a prestigious live online Winners and Nomination Ceremony presented by Black and White Spider Awards to recognize excellence in black and white photography.

Thousands of images were received by 62 countries. The nominated photographers were selected by a who’s who Judging Panel the international photography community, including Sotheby’s (London), Tate Gallery (London), Fratelli Alinari Museum (Florence), Magnum Photos, VII Photo Agency (New York), LIFE Magazine, Man Ray Trust, ILFORD PHOTO (UK), Photo District News (PDN), Photo Life Magazine ( Canada), Artrepco (Zürich), Leica Photo Gallery (São Paulo), Communication Arts, Lens Work, Heffel Fine Art, BIPP, ACMP, NZIPP, Hamiltons Gallery, Galerie Baudoin Lebon (Paris), Torch Gallery (Amsterdam), Byron Gallery (Sydney) and others.

The Panel reviewed the images online over an eight week period and Reinfried Marass “Riva Diva” an exceptional image entered in the “Advertising – Professional” category, and “Classic Racing” entered in the “Sport – Professional” category received a high percentage of votes overall.

“The Spider Awards celebrates photographers who operate at the highest levels of their craft,”said the awards Creative Director, Basil O’Brien. “ReinfriedMarass’s work represents black and white photography at its finest, and we’re pleased to present him with the “Black and White Spider Awards Nominee Advertising Title” and the “Black and White Spider Awards Nominee Sport Title”.
You can view the 4th Annual Winners Gallery at http://www.thespiderawards.com/gallery/index

BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS is the leading international award honoring excellence in black and white photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in black and white photography.

Contact: Reinfried Marass
Telephone: 0043-650 / 250 260 7
Email: email@reinfriedmarass.com
Website: reinfriedmarass.com