Peter Kupfer
Professional Photographer
About Me
Born and raised in the South of Germany I was originally planning to be a scientist. I was studying Life Science in Tuebingen. To fund myself I tried to earn money with photography after taking pictures of local bands and friends. This passion was born in the early ‘90s after visiting tons of concerts and shooting them for local print magazines. If you ask me when I picked up my first camera I am not able to give you a satisfying answer. I guess, it was the year 1990. More or less!
After sending my portfolio to several big national and international magazines, I got a phone call from the German Musikexpress. They „asked“ me to shoot a concert of the US band Tool for their next issue. I didn’t know exactly what awaited me when I went to the concert. No light, a „frontman“ off-stage and the pressure to get one perfect picture. For sure, analog photography and limited to 36 pictures per film. In the end it worked out and I got a regular employment.
After some years I decided to deepen my knowledge regarding photography and attended courses at a renowned and famous School of Art in Berlin after my stopover in Tübingen. Nevertheless I also worked during my education for magazines, record companies, agencies but also for bands all over the world. On top I studied Life Science to realizing my dream to become a scientist.
After moving to Hamburg I started a company with my partner Anabell Ganske. Sight Of Sound was born and the main focus was set to Rock dominated music. We worked for bands, festivals, magazines and agencies as well as for private persons. During the last years both of us broaden our attention to other categories as well. Personally I discovered photography in the field of documentary during traveling around the world. I also started some projects like ‚The Beatmaker‘, ‚Panoramica Photography‘ or ‚Just One Shot‘ where I take only one picture of a protagonist. But conventional photography is also a field of my activities for quite some time.
In the meantime I became a scientist and got my PhD as well. Nevertheless my heart beats for photography and I am still working very hard to bring my work to the next level. The genre is secondary because difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage.
Rave Review
Through his many years of experience as concert photographer, Peter Kupfer has acquired the skill to assess situations instantly, to anticipate and capture the moment, while being both part of the scene and observer.
He has without doubt mastered the art of observation. His eye for the essential, the no-frills simplicity is virtually unrivaled, and his pictures speak a clear and yet emotionally meaningful language.
Peter Kupfer is an analyst, someone who does not need to showcase himself. One brief moment is enough for him to take the perfect picture. His pictures are neither random nor staged. They combine analysis and emotion like two opposing souls engaged in a peaceful dialogue.
His photo stories are aesthetic and critical at the same time, his portraits are both minimalistic and emotional, while his music shots take the viewer onto the stage or right into the pit. The viewer himself always seems to be part of the scene.
Peter Kupfer seems to bring together irreconcilable contradictions. And that’s precisely what characterizes the apparent ease, the poetic process of his photos. It is the very moment that appears to be floating and yet displays an unfathomable depth.