before the end of last year we wanted to have some nice large format pictures of PLATOON, especially some from above.

so we invited our good friend Christian von Steffelin to create some of his breathtaking artworks on our site… as he already did some years ago
on our old PLATOON area.







me and Christian met on a very gray and gloomy day, which by the way is one of his favourite weather condition for creating his very expressive style of photography,















it took us a while to figure out how to get on the roof in front of our headquarters… but thanks to Doreen, one of our neighbours, who kindly allowed us to climb from her balcony, we finally managed to get there.














after setting up the tripod and the camera Christian stayed observing and pondering for a while, trying to find the best perspective from which to shoot....it felt like being a sniper looking after his target...














then suddenly, as if we were in the late nineteenth century, he sneaked under a dark cloth and CLICK...the first image was forever impressed on film...and it was the only one he did. in fact he really doesn’t repeat himself. one shot is enough...he is not like some digital snapshot accumulators...what he does, is a work of art.












the view from above was terrific…in the real sense of the word. definitely not something for the fainthearted. and for Christian, who actually does suffer a bit of vertigo, it wasn´t as easy as you might think.















Christian shoots with his large format wista rf 45 baseboard camera, which is originally used for mobile architecture, very similar to the horseman 45 model. also referred to as view camera following the early photograph type developed by louis Daguerre in 1839. it´s a very fascinating device.











thank you Christian for the fantastic experience, i really enjoyed it...and thanks again for the pictures, we appreciate them very much!















*Christian von Steffelin´s website is under construction, but we will post the link as soon as it is ready!
in the meantime check out the pictures he did for the now vanished palast der republik (palace of the repupbic)...and at the same time you can also read about this historical building, which for many years was a vibrant centre for the arts here in berlin.