It is very rare that Andreas Glummert photographs anything other than ships. Why is that? "Because they are there - and standing still," says the 57-year-old. Of course, that is only a small part of the truth. Definitely they are an obvious motif for him. He has lived on the Elbe island of Finkenwerder again for five years, where they all pass by on their way from the sea to Hamburg harbour.

Boats instead of rock'n'roll      
Glummert grew up here. His father and grandfather worked at the shipyard. With grandpa he used to go for walks along the dyke, looking at ships. He told him about ship types, built him wooden boats to play with. He learned to love the maritime world at an early age. "The fact that I didn't go to sea when I was the right age was probably because I had long hair and wanted to be a rock star," he says only half jokingly. As a photo motif, at any rate, he has taken ships into focus again in recent years and given them a place in his everyday life, even if not full-time.

Ships are a reliable motif. They don't fidget around, they are rather inert and their appearance never comes as a surprise to him, because he always has an eye on all the larger civilian ships via an app. "When I see them entering the Elbe fairway, they are here four hours later." It takes him about three quarters of an hour to pick up a container ship. If four ships come one after the other, he can be busy all day.       

He has photographed hundreds of thousands of watercraft in recent years - from small pilot boats to the container ships that particularly excite him. "These giant ships are not classically beautiful, but they still have a fascination." Andreas Grummert is impressed by the size, the power, the might and their inertia. At the same time, they are almost impossible to control. You can't brake and you can't swerve on the Elbe, so you have to drive very carefully. And even beyond the massive appearance: "A ship like this transports not only containers, but also longing, wanderlust and emotions."        

The charm of the past
But he doesn't want to be a so-called "ship spotter", he attaches great importance to that. Car transporters, for example, don't interest him at all, he finds them ugly as hell. On the other hand, he likes ships that are a little more worn out, because they have more charm and look livelier than the newly painted ones.

The Hamburg native sees himself as a landscape photographer who takes pictures of ships to direct our gaze. In other words, he doesn't do it for documentary reasons, but for aesthetic ones. Andreas Glummert's goal is to take good photos. And yes, he also photographs ships that he has photographed before. Because of course they look different every time, depending on the lighting mood. In general, he tries to shoot ships in such a way that they appear alive in the picture. In no case flat from the side! "A ship can't look any more boring than that." Instead, for example, along the ship's side, ideally aimed at a target such as the Elbphilharmonie, which can then be seen in the background.

A desire for hidden pictures
For perspective, he prefers locations at the water's edge with an under-view, rather than looking for an elevated vantage point. He loves "Wimmelbilder", i.e. those sections of the picture in which a maximum of a lot is happening - "like on a freeze frame of a paused video."         

Does this constant fixation on ships never get boring? The opposite seems to be the case: "You move on safe terrain, you have routine." Because Andreas Grummert knows his subject, he can concentrate more on taking pictures, on the individual motif, It is fun for him to keep pushing things to perfection. "Others photograph models all their lives, they don't get bored with it either."

The PHOTOPIA makers have also taken a liking to shipping containers. Around 350 containers will once again be set up, stacked and staged in the Hamburg exhibition halls on the occasion of PHOTOPIA Hamburg from 13 to 16 October.  The result: a unique backdrop for photo enthusiasts from all over the world.

Further information at
Andreas Grummert: www.volldampf-voraus.de