Behind the Scenes: Shapes of Light

“It was dark, the moon shone brightly (…),when a car at lightning speed, drove slowly round the bend…” The words from this poem by an unknown author are well-known in Germany. They could certainly be used to describe pictures that David Nissen is publishing in a photo book titled Shapes of Light, which appears in April, 2019. As in the poem, Nissen's images are full of paradoxes, contradictions and, above all, strong contrasts. Nissen prefers to photograph at night, and for lighting he uses either moonlight or available light sources, such as street lamps or car headlights. As a director of photography (DOP) and commercial film maker, he knows how to dramatise light and contrast very effectively. To achieve specific effects while photographing, he applies various lenses in combination with his Leica M10.

LFI: How do you prepare yourself when going out to take photographs?
David Nissen: When working as a DOP, I mostly use Summilux lenses or the Cooke S4, though I also find the MINI Hawk by Vantage and Primo Lenses by Panavision great. I find that every photo shoot is different. I put together a new list of equipment every time, so as to achieve the best results for the director with whom I'm working. So I don't take all my lenses with me; only those I need for the job. Sometimes I compare my work to that of a chef, who continuously puts together delicious dishes made up of different ingredients.

How do you achieve a specific look?
When I talk about a look, I'm always referring to the mood that I hope to achieve, and then it's also a question of the lens's bokeh. That's precisely why I love older models; vintage lenses are sometimes better that new ones, because they are more graceful. But, in the end, it's always a question of what I want to photograph. In a beauty clip with a celebrity, the set I use is not the same as that for a car advertisement.

Which lenses do you use for which kinds of tasks?
When I'm taking photographs, I appreciate the old Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 Asph, because of its soft, yet characteristic, picture performance. I like the Noctilux-M 50 f/1 for its 3-D feeling, when I work with a long exposure time: it's an enormous difference from the Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 Asph that I use primarily; but I use all my different lenses, alternately.