A change of perspective

Not an easy job for photographers: Where trade fair contractors and exhibitors used to demand photos of stands, they now want the brand staging and atmosphere captured.

Mr. Brigola, as a photographer you are often called upon to work at trade fairs in Germany and abroad. Who are your clients?
Victor S. Brigola: It depends. My clients may be trade fair contractors or architects. They may also be communications agencies creating a trade fair appearance for an exhibitor.

So you have a broad portfolio of customers at a trade fair?
Not only that. I might even work for several clients at one stand. That has the advantage that they can divide the costs but it does have its problems, too.

What are those problems?
Different types of pictures and different motifs are required for the same trade fair appearance. The architect views a stand differently from a trade fair contractor, the exhibitor has his own idea of what sort of photo he wants and the communication agencies have special wishes of their own. They want the pictures to fit into the overall communication concept of the stand.

That sounds like complicated briefings.
Not necessarily. It depends on my relationship with the customer. For example, Expotechnik, a trade fair contractor for whom I have worked many times knows my work and gives me free rein with the choice of motifs and views. We are on the same wavelength. And Expotechnik uses my photos to present themselves in their brochures and on their website.

What is important to you when you photograph a stand?
At some point I started working on the stand during the day. The people milling around the trade fair are very important for me because they put life into the event. The idea is not to show pure stand architecture, the naked structure, but to capture communication happening at the trade fair.

In a photo?
Of course, it's possible. You can capture the atmosphere. With other angles, new motifs and varying focus, you can put the market messages and the feeling for the trade fair appearance on paper. But sometimes the managers responsible for a trade fair in companies and some trade fair organisers have a different perspective from the photographer.

They are unable to look at things in a new way?
It's six of one and half a dozen of the other. Both the photographer and the client lack the courage or they are simply unable find new ways of presenting things.

Why?
The best place to observe this is at motor shows. There are brands whose communications and trade fair managers are very conservative as far as tradeshow motifs go, while others would like to be more innovative but are not allowed to be.

Who's stopping them?
If a major brand is integrated into a global marketing concept, there are strict rules governing trade fair appearances worldwide. Corporate design is tightly monitored. Of course, that also covers trade fair images for external communications. But that must not put paid to a photographer's individual freedom.Interview: Annic Kolbrück

m+a report Nr.4 / 2006 vom 15.06.2006
m+a report vom 15. Juni 2006