San Franciso Magazine

Design Director: Ellen Zaslow
Art Director: Ron Escobar
Director of Photography: Ilana Diamond

Photographer: Claudia Goetzelmann

In what ways has your globetrotting life influenced your work?
As a visual artist you draw from your influences and I believe the more we expose ourselves to new experiences and foreign cultures the ‘richer ‘our lives will be.  It gives inspiration and keeps the spark alive – to create and stay fresh and current with our art forms. I believe my globetrotting life has given me many of those inspirations and shaped me in many ways. The way I see the world and the way it helped to formed my vision and style in my images. I am German, so that carries a very graphic element and then all those years in Asia – that is kind of calm and zen and California is colorful.
I feel like it is all that, and maybe it is a little bit whimsical, a little bit understated. People tell me that my work is impactful but also has a somewhat playful vibe to it. It feels fun and dynamic and fresh. I think that is because that is who I am.  I think I don’t take myself too seriously, and my photos reflect that.  I think its because of all my travels, the countries and cultures I lived in, one has to be open minded. We can learn so much. It keeps me moving intellectually and grow as a person and as an artist.

How many languages can you speak and has that ability ever helped you land a project?
I speak German and English and I used to speak Indonesian quite fluently, a bit of French and Spanish. I am not sure if it helped me directly to land a project but I am sure it helps being a worldy citizen and knowing how to connect to foreign cultures. ( I know 5 words of Russian too!) I have been in Moscow for a job and spend a bit of time there exploring the city. So it was nice to relate to some local customs and cultural trades etc. while shooting w/ Maria.

For the design of this fashion story, it has qualities of a moving image with the layout, was that your idea to present to the magazine?  ( with the smaller images like a film strip )
The filmstrip idea was a collective decision made at the magazine after the shoot. There are soo many amazing images that is was really hard to choose just one image per look/ per page. So why not emphasize the movement aspect and showcase more images at the same time. What a fabulous idea!!!

How much direction do you get from the magazine? and what specifically was your direction for this project?
When Ilana Diamond (PE) approached me about the project its was quite clear that is was an assignment tailored for me. Fashion merged with movement = Claudia Goetzelmann. The idea was to showcase the latest fall fashion trends on Maria while she is dancing/ moving around her favorite neighborhood in San Francisco.
While talking to Ilana and Ron Escobar (Art Director) it became quite clear that we also wanted to make sure Maria’s fun and quirky personality would be reflected in the images. A dream assignment for me! We scouted the area where we wanted to shoot and attached a look to each location. But we also left a bit room to play. And it was also a lot about embracing my shooting style and vision. Being as prepared as one can be in advance (the German in me takes over) it allows time to play and let magic happen. I loved shooting with Maria. She is such a pro. She knows her body and her movement so well and she loves fashion. It was such a pleasure to collaborate with her on this project!

Your cover is perfect for supporting the cover lines/logo was that shot discussed or this was an organic moment and it become a cover?
San Francisco Magazine and myself have the same approach towards cover attempts. We can aim for a particular look but should be thinking about the cover at all times during the shoot. It leaves room to play and think outside a grid. We had some generic ideas about the cover.  But when Maria was wearing the Valentino Daft Ceramic Mood coat and dress it became clear that this would be an amazing cover option.

Do you supply and motion for their ipad issue?
Yes, the Magazine does, you can view it  here.

Aside from shooting the fashion feature I meet up w/ Maria at the Ballet studio one morning to shoot some frames of her training – the magazine wanted to keep the visual language aligned throughout the story.

I see you also had another image in the magazine along with the feature, how did they come about?
They also asked me to shoot the LOOKER page (one cool fashion accessory) – we shot a McQueen bag and McQueen shoe. The loved both so they used one in the content page and one in the actual LOOKER page. They usually don’t do that.  I feel so honored that the Magazine embraces my photography that way.  I truly enjoyed working with the team. I was a wonderful collaboration from the beginning to the end.

You call your self and integrated media photographer, director of photography. What exactly are you trying to tell people with this title?
I started shooting/ directing videos a couple years back and I wanted people to know that I am doing that. I can shoot still images and also shoot the video part of the project if applicable. Its important for me to stay up and current on the latest happening and requirements of technology. I want to be able to offer such services to my clients.

I see on your site you’ve broken out SWIM/LINGERIE and LIFE/MOVEMENT what made you call out SWIM/LINGERIE and not simply call it fashion 1, fashion 2 and so on?
I feel it needed its own category. I already have fashion 1, 2, 3, 4 . There are tons of images on my site and I want to keep it simple and fast digestible for the viewer/ visitor so they can get to what they are looking for. My work lives in the Advertising and Fashion world.  Potential clients who look for Fashion might not be interested in the Life and Movement part or Advertising clients might not want to look through all the Fashion. The way we live now our attention span has become extremely short. Its all about the instant. I hope by breaking out those categories it will help navigate my site and work.