Making of “Zäsur” with Ralph Mecke

Zäsur, f.: break, turning point

“And suddenly the world stands still. Pandemic, quarantine, lockdown. Thrown back on ourselves. We have to go on – anyway. New normality. Rethink, now. Sensible approach to old patterns in an unusual light. The tools: solidarity, resilience, pragmatism. First cautious steps forward … “

During the first lockdown as the world came to a stand still and we were confined to our homes, Ralph Mecke got assigned to shoot a new fashion series. At the time the photographer was staying in his New York apartment with his wife and son.

During a brainstorming session with our CGI director Thorsten Jasper Weese in Stuttgart, the idea was born to visualize the extraordinary situation and feelings of isolation using imagery of the eerily deserted streets of the city paired with abstract 3D renderings.

 

Ralph and his designer clad son, as the talent, roamed the empty city in search for spots that would normally beam with life and activity. Once the team in Stuttgart received all the photo material, they created rough and imperfect 3D art elements via photogrammetry software.

Photogrammetry is a technique to obtain reliable data of real-world objects in the environment by creating 3D models from photos.
2D and 3D data is extracted from an image and, with overlapping photos of an object, building, or terrain, converted into a digital 3D model. This allows capturing large objects, even landscapes, that would otherwise be impossible to scan. As such, photogrammetry is often used by surveyors, architects, engineers, and contractors to create topographic maps, networks, or point clouds.

The team then rendered the new pieces, combined them with the original shots and fine-tuned the stunning results. See the whole project on our website here.

 

Client: Best Fashion Magazine
Photographer: Ralph Mecke
Producer: Yilmaz Aktepe
Talent: Cedric Mecke
CGI Director: Thorsten Jasper Weese / Recom Group
Post Artists: Thorsten Jasper Weese, Thomas Saalfrank / Recom Group
3D Artworks: Thorsten Jasper Weese / Recom Group