Leif Schiller

Leif Schiller (April 4, 1939 – October 21, 2007) was a Danish-born fashion and commercial photographer. During his working career, Schiller worked with supermodels Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour and many more. Schiller did print campaigns for most European fashion houses and fashion magazines, and he also did campaigns for clients such as Revlon, Georg Jensen, Budweiser, [http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magasin_du_Nord Magasin du Nord] , [http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxe_Bryggeri Faxe Beer] , [http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandy V6] and Ecco Shoes. Schiller also did Europe's most expensive print campaign for Hennessy Cognac at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy - the total cost of a one day's photoshoot was $2.000.000.

In 1967, after running the studios simultaneously in New York and Copenhagen, Leif Schiller founded [http://www.schiller.dk Schiller & Co. Facility House] hosting more than 30 independent and creatively individual companies with photography as the main theme. The companies include Q-lab, Schiller Digital, Schiller Interactive and the shared creative offices for individual creative companies, such as the production company Locomotion. Schiller & Co. Facility House is still listed as today's biggest European facility house with photography as the main theme.

In 2000, Leif Schiller received a Photographer of the Century Award by the [http://www.photodk.com Danish Photography Association] .

In 2003, Leif Schiller did the [http://www.united-photography.com/Photographers/Leif+Schiller/Gallery+1+(Pia)/Lyngby+Storcenter.html world's largest commercial photo] for [http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyngby_Storcenter Lyngby Storcenter] shopping mall.The photo included 18 scenes, 92 models, 4 animals, 3 pieces of 3-D generated models, 25 persons production team. The length of photoshoot was 14 days. Time needed to complete the production was 38 days. There were 93 pieces for scanning, 358 silhouettes, 458 picture layers and the total size of photo was 1,325 GB. The photo received a [http://www.icsc.org/srch/education/awards/2003SolalAwardWinners.pdf#xml=http://icscsearch.icsc.org/texis/search/pdfhi.txt?query=Consumer+Advertising+lyngby+storcenter&pr=IcscLiveNew&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&sufs=0&order=r&cq=&id=471556718 MAXI Merit Award] in the category "Consumer Advertising" at the The International Council of Shopping Centers Awards in Las Vegas, USA.

In his later career, Leif Schiller devoted himself to work on [http://www.indsigtogfremsyn.dk The Insight and Foresight Association] , of which he was a creator. The Insight and Foresight Association was made to uplift the ghetto-heavy part of Copenhagen, Nørrebro, and help children and teenagers to be creative and thus integrate better into the Danish society. Schiller was in charge of teaching the children and teenagers how to photograph, which resulted in Denmark's largest outdoor photo exhibition hosted by [http://www.galleri-hamlet.dk Galleri Hamlet] in Hamletsgade, Copenhagen. Due to that project, Leif Schiller was featured on [http://www.dr.dk/odp/player.aspx?http://www.dr.dk/odp/ActivateLink.html?uniqueid=8A8FA31F-2DA2-446F-A5A8-71CDE4999D2D&mt=programstab&st=&furl=http%3A//www.dr.dk/odp/default.aspx%3Ftemplate%3Dprogramserie%26guid%3D12637D22-E8C3-44FF-BA91-E9838231DE72%26autoplay%3D1%26back%3Ddefault.aspx%253ftemplate%253dprogrammer&surl=http%3A//www.dr.dk/Forms/Published/PlaylistGen.aspx%3Fqid%3D482044%26odp%3Dtrue Denmark's Radio TV channel] , had an article on [http://www3.kk.dk/Aktuelt/Presseinvitationer/2006/Gadegalleri%20fernisering%20og%20gadefest%20i%20Hamletsgade.aspx Copenhagen Kommune website] and [http://www.paagaden.dk/?s=nyheder&op=vis&aid=1257 Paa Gaden magazine] .

Quotes

From [http://www.leifschiller.com Leif Schiller website] :

"When someone tells you a fairytale, and it is a good one, then the experience plays out in your head. My pictures are also about what’s happening inside your head when you look at them."

"A fashion photo is born when the photographer is able to provoke a "come-and-get-me" look in the eyes of his subject. This makes the model spring to life off of the flat surface of the page and creates a look that sells."

"Everyone categorizes pictures: still life, fashion, portraits, cars, etc. These are all just slices of a larger pie, namely the advertising photograph."

"When you live life at a break-neck speed, you don’t have to refer back 38 years to the beginning of Schiller & Co. You should instead be judged on what you do right now and also on your ability to leave your mark on the photograph. And who better to judge you than those closest to you?"

"When a typical landscape photograph is too good, when the light is too impressive and the situation is too fantastic, then it unfortunately is perceived as a manipulated reality. Luckily, there are those who are capable of eliminating every doubt concerning a picture’s originality."

"A picture reduced to its bare elements lives. No filter, no manipulation, the eye and ethics frozen in a moment in time. That’s how children see the world too."

External links

* [http://www.schiller.dk Schiller & Co. Facility House website]
* [http://www.leifschiller.com Leif Schiller website]