Yves Krier is a freelance photographer based in Munich, Germany. He takes portraits of musicians, models, and actors and travels all over the world to document events. After learning analog photography from his father, Yves quickly became addicted: "I love the fact not knowing which kind of person, which location and how much time you’ll get to shoot. It’s always exciting to feel a bit of the pressure of the 'unknown.' I owe photography a lot because it lets me see things in different perspectives – a bit like skateboarding, which taught me to look at the city’s architecture differently." His portraits tend to be shot in less than 10 minutes; he has, at times, had just 1 minute to get a good photo on a film set.
Yves' portraits and editorial fashion shoots have been published in several magazines. Most recently, he did a series of portraits for a documentary film about the German hip hop culture. The pictures will premiere alongside the film in summer 2015. Yves has worked with Vanguard since 2011, producing several commercial campaigns. Yves added: "I’m very proud to have such a great and long-lasting relationship with Vanguard. Being part of the Vanguard Professionals family alongside so many cool, talented photographers is amazing."
Yves took the time to walk us through some of his favorite gear and his favorite photos...
Yves' Gear
Currently, I use these Vanguard products depending on the job (if it’s an event, fashion shoot, job where I’ll have to travel, etc.)
- Auctus Plus 323CT with SBH-300 Head (though now discontinued, you can find a similar configuration here)
- Alta Pro 284CT with also with the SBH-300 or sometimes with the GH-100 (discontinued, you can find a similar configuration here)
- Xcenior 41T for almost every job!!!
- Xcenior 62T for big travel-jobs
- Up-Rise II 38
- The Heralder 38
A Walk Through Some of Yves' Favorite Shots
I was sitting in a café in Paris with my girlfriend when this little girl suddenly stood up next to me behind a plastic wall. It had to be very quick – camera on my lap, not using the viewfinder, just pushing the trigger trying to get some random pictures. The whole situation lasted maybe 3 seconds. Then, she was gone. It’s my favorite shot from all the trips I took to Paris!
This is DJ Vadim – famous Hip Hop DJ and producer from London. I met him in London for a music magazine called "Keys" from Germany. He opened the door in his pajamas wearing sandals and turned out to be such a friendly person to hang out with. The picture was taken in his urban jungle of a backyard.
I was on tour throughout Germany working for a film documentary called "Wenn der Vorhang fällt" about German hip hop culture. We had an interview with famous rapper Sido in Berlin. I had 5 minutes for the shoot and decided to let him sit on his old chair where he produced his first, very successful album. He looked pretty relaxed.
Taken from the editorial "Who is this guy?" for fashion designer Miriam Schaaf with model Candy Graf. The people in the bar were pretty confused, as we walked right in wearing this ape mask and leaving quickly after a couple of shots.
A lot of portraits I take for model agencies to build up sed cards for newcomer models. Naomi was clearly one of the most talented models I’ve seen in the last years. Simply natural beauty.
Had a great shoot with model Anna Wilken from Berlin in the backyard of my studio/office in Munich. When I use a flashlight (which happens quite rarely) I like to trigger it right next to the camera on a flash bracket for hard shadows.
On a recent trip to Luxor, Egypt I was lucky to document a big convention with the tourism minister of Egypt and lots of travel agencies from Europe. There were security and military police cars everywhere to protect us. I took this picture of a young military policeman who was convoying our bus. His smile was so happy and true, but at the same time, it was a strange feeling to see this young man with a machine gun in his hand.
Model Naomi Meindl stayed very calm when skateboarder Max Glatzl pushed towards her at full speed, defying the rules of gravity and rolling out of that breathtaking full pipe at Munich’s Hirschgarten. The picture is part of a shoot for fashion designer Lucia Gölitz.
Visit Yves Krier's website and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.
