Finding Inspiration - Phillip Schumacher

Phillip Schumacher

Phillip Schumacher

Philip Schumacher is a young photographer from Germany. I discovered his work through Flickr and liked the creative approach he took with his photographs. He got into photography back in 2009 after his dad bought a DSLR camera. He uses a lot of self-portraits for his work and portfolio because when he visualises an idea and wants his ideas to come alive so he can see it physically. He usually takes photographs for people around his hometown at birthday parties and weddings etc.

After that, his work was featured on a couple of blogs, online galleries and interviews in magazines.

He believes he found his style through experimenting and that he will never find a specific style because he will keep trying different things. I like this about his work because looking at his work you can tell that the style is always changing although it still stays to the theme of surrealism.

In an interview he said “I think there is probably nothing in the world that is not inspiring and if it is in the most abstract way. It can be a movie, a picture, a song, a poem, a place, a person, another artist, a certain situation, a smell, a noise, a taste, a feeling, a memory…anything! You just have to be willing to see them and the inspiration in them.”

This made me want to look at things in the world differently and to take time to just look around what surrounds you because the world around you might inspire you.

He has a series of photos where he incorporates space and the galaxy. This is one of my favourite of is series’. He got inspired by listening to a song called ‘Cosmic Love’ and imagined himself travelling through space. He then translated that feeling into a series of photographs.

He uses surreal props and settings because he wants to create dream worlds and combine them with reality. Making the impossible possible.

When People Try to Form You

Phillip Schumacher calls this photo ‘When people try to form you’. I think this photo represents that statement because the hands in the photo are pulling on different parts of his face/hair. The symbols in this are the hands that are trying to “fix” him. The hands represent other people who try to make you the way that they want you to be instead of the way you are or want to be. It can be associated with different aspects of people’s lives because there are always people trying to change you. I like the editing style of this photo because it will keep the viewer questioning it because the concept is very interesting. 

While I was Sleeping

Phillip titled this photo ‘While I was sleeping’. The symbols in this photo are the bedding he’s laying on upside down with the world above him. It represents a dream state because he’s  floating and that only happens in dreams. The simplicity of the black background may mean that he’s not dreaming of anything in particular but the whole world instead. It could also mean he’s lost in space and can’t feel or hear anything which can be an escape from real life where a lot of things could be happening at once. It could be associated with being peaceful and having no worries. The world/planet above him is the only thing that’s bright. It has a glow effect around it which juxtaposes the plain black background below it.