Photographic trends at Photokina
The leading international fair in Cologne presents innovations from the world of photography.
This “selfie” was seen all over the world: German national player Lukas Podolski with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel – in the changing room of the national football team. The snapshot was taken after Germany’s first World Cup game against Portugal. Millions of people viewed it, and many of them used the “Share” button to distribute the photograph on the Web. “Selfies” are the latest thing.
It’s a pity though when a portrait is blurred and you can hardly recognise anything. But now there are also ways of avoiding that – for example, with what is known as a light-field camera. Using this technology, professionals and amateurs alike can focus an image after it has been taken. The German Raytrix company was the first in the world to put a light-field camera on the market. This technology can do much more than refocus an image, however, as you can discover at Photokina, the leading international fair for photography, in Cologne. Light-field technology even makes subsequent changes of perspective and 3D photography possible with a smartphone.
If an image comes up to scratch, you can also print it on a poster or publish it in a personal photobook – that’s another new trend. An international trailblazer in this area is Cewe Color. The company from northern Germany invented the standard for variable picture length, for example, which ensures that no parts of an image are cut off during printing. The first photo station for shops that allowed customers to print out their digital pictures themselves also stems from the Oldenburg-based photographic specialists, which has just under 4,000 employees.
Today Cewe Color is the market leader in Europe – and is well acquainted with Europeans’ differing photographic preferences. In an interview the current CEO Rolf Hollander revealed: “Norwegians love nature and take the most beautiful landscape photos. Italians take the least photographs; after all, the sun shines all the time. However, professional photography is strong there: weddings are recorded in great detail and the resulting photobooks lavish.”
Photokina, the world’s leading fair for photography, from 16 to 21 September 2014 in Cologne
