Michael Schnabel photographs the natural beauty and everyday experience of Mexico for Mexico Today. The initiative promotes a positive image of the country as both an unrivaled tourist destination and a global business partner.  In two ads, Schnabel captures stunning mountains and an innovative wind farm.

Schnabel shot the ads over the course of one week on two locations.  The first location was in Oaxaca at what is said to be the world’s largest wind farm.  The area around the farm is incredibly large and the temperature the day of the tech scout was high, making for a difficult task in finding the perfect spot.  However they finally found a nice pond with windmills in the background for photographing three small children admiring the landscape.

The second location was Sierra de Órganos, a national park in Durango. A thousand years ago the park was an ocean and as the water receded it formed the mountains into astonishing round barrens.  The crew chose two spots among the rocks to drill cables into and have professional climbers climb for the shot. Schnabel adds it was “breath-taking” to see the easiness with which the climbers moved on the rocks. He says of the overall experience, “It was an amazing job through an incredible country with a lot of good and hard working people!”

See more of Michael Schnabel’s photography here.

Client: Mexico Today
Agency: Ogilvy LA
Creative Director: Jeff Compton
Production: Elle Sullivan Wilson
Art Director: Nazanin Arandi
Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Retouching: Recom

Michael Schnabel photographs the latest ad campaign for the Dodge Ram 1500. The tagline reads, “A vehicle that not only helps you do, but you get where you want to go.” The ads are specially made for the Latin American market.

Schnabel photographed the trucks in Southern California.  Locations included the desert and a farm where the crew spent two days. The concept was to show the trucks getting dirty in action. While most ads depict cars as beautiful and stylish, Ram wanted to show them as working trucks. For Schnabel the challenge was that while the brief called for capturing the truck in the mud, getting dirty, the truck still had to look good and desirable to potential buyers. Schnabel says he had “a vision of how it would work out and it definitely came through.”

Schnabel’s ads for Ram are out now in Latin America.

See more of Michael Schnabel’s photography here.

Client: Dodge
Agency: The Richards Group
Art Director: Samantha Jimenez
Production: Team Halprin
Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Retouching: Recom

Michael Schnabel exhibits his first solo show at the Osthaus Museum in Hagen, Germany. The show features a total of 52 works from the past decade. Photographs from Schnabel’s most well known series “Nightscapes,” are part of the show. The series includes images of mountains, ocean waves, and most recently museum interiors, taken at night. The newer works portray how art pieces are lighted and rest at nighttime.

The show also includes work from Schnabel’s new series “White Land.” The images of winter landscapes explore the line between abstraction and distinction. Schnabel wanted it to be a challenge for viewers to see what is pictured in each image.

Michael Schnabel’s show will run until November 6^th at the Osthaus Museum. Find out more information on the museum’s website.

See more of Michael Schnabel’s photography here.

Michael Schnabel collaborates with Can-Am for the second time on the global campaign for the Spyder roadster. Schnabel previously captured the Spyder in the California desert in 2009. The latest campaign was shot in Portland, Oregon and the surrounding areas. The diversity of the locale was advantageous to the shoot, providing city, mountain, and coastal sets.

Schnabel captured the Spyder on location over the course of several days. Consecutive days of relentless rain created a challenge for him and the crew in the beginning. However, several hours of sun on the last day’s coastal shoot allowed Schnabel to get the perfect cover image. For other images, mountain roads were closed so Schnabel could capture the Spyder being test-driven.

Schnabel will be collaborating with Can-Am on the Spyder campaign again this year. See more of Schnabel’s photography here.

Client: BRP Can-Am Spyder
Agency: Cramer- Kasselt
Art Director: Shawn Holpfer
Producer: Louis de Fontanes
Photographer: Michael Schnabel

Michael Schnabel has created five original photographs for Das Tirol Panorama. The new museum, dedicated to the tradition and culture of the Tirol region, opened March 12^th near Innsbruck, Austria. Schnabel was commissioned to produce new work from his well-known “Stille Berge” series specifically for the museum. The five images of the Tirol Mountains were created during nighttime exposure over the course of four months in 2010.

Schnabel used an analog camera to produce the images at night. While most photographers today work with digital cameras, Schnabel needed an analog to create the long night exposures. He scouted several locations in the region at night and during the day before settling on the Tirol Mountains. The exposure times for each photograph varied up to four hours each, with the total exposure time for all five being twenty-two hours. The final images are 5’3” ft by 7’3” ft and are part of the museum’s permanent collection.

See more of Schnabel’s photography here.

Hyundai is releasing a hybrid version of the Sonata later this year. They aim to introduce consumers to their first hybrid car in a series of new ads shot by Michael Schnabel. The humorous tagline “It’s 2011. So Why is This Our First Hybrid?” appears as Hyundai is explains why it has taken them so long to enter the hybrid market.

Schnabel shot the ads on location in Dallas, TX. The first ad was shot at an area home and features a man taking off from his home with a jet pack, hovering over the car below him. The image is a playful nod to the fact that Hyundai is debuting their first hybrid when advanced technology like augmented reality and even jet packs have been around for years.  The second ad, shot at a local steakhouse, contrasts the sleek sophistication of the car with the casualness of the steakhouse.  Hybrids have typically had a hippie-label attached to them, but Hyundai wants consumers to know the car is accessible to everyone. Schnabel enjoyed working with Hyundai’s playful approach to the ads, especially the sense of humor not often seen in car ads.

The ads are appearing nationally now.

See more of Michael Schnabel’s portfolio here.

Art Director: Tom Gibson
Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Copywriter: Steve O’Brien
Art Buyer: Chrissy Borgatta Liuzzi
Production Team: Halprin

The 51st Communication Arts Photography Annual looks at the best photography of the year, choosing 147 winning projects from the 6,075 entries. Among those to catch the jurors’ eyes are Jamie Chung, Michael Schnabel, and Stephen Wilkes. Says juror Jane Perovich of Getty Images, “Original, authentically inspiring images that are emotionally accessible will continue to be the foundation for what informs us, makes us think and ultimately captivates us.”

Pictured above: Michael Schnabel’s advertising campaign for O2, one of the largest leading mobile telecommunications provider.

Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Category: Advertising
Client: O2
Campaign: Neue Wege gehen. Damit Sie es einfacher haben.
Agency: VCCP Berlin
Creative Director: Lars Wohlnick
Art Director: Michael Milczarek
Learn more

Photographer: Jamie Chung
Category: Editorial
Publication: ESPN magazine
Photo Editor: Amy McNulty
Learn more

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: Vanity Fair
Photography Director: Susan White
Assistant Photo Editor: Dana Kravis

Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers 2010/2011 has recently been released. Bernstein & Andriulli photographers Stewart Cohen, Florian Geiss, Christophe Gilbert, Stuart Hall, Emir Haveric, and Michael Schnabel are featured for their work in Animals, Automotive, Beauty and Nudes, Children, Interiors, Landscape, Life, People, and Transportation categories. The 416 page volume includes art from 111 photographers that were nominated by ad agency art directors. Lürzer’s Archive then invites the photographers to submit their best work and an international jury of 8 makes the final selections. Congratulations to Cohen, Gilbert, Hall, Haveric, and Schnabel for standing out among the 6,539 submissions.

Pictured above: Emir Haveric
Category: Transportation
Agency: McCann Erickson, San Francisco
Creative: Sari Hamman
Client: Microsoft

Haveric’s self-promotional work appears in the Animals section and his work for BMW with agency MAB, Berlin appears in the Automotive section.

Christophe Gilbert
Category: Beauty & Nudes
Agency: Euro RSCG, Brussels
Client: Inno

Gilbert’s work for Bogh-Art with agency Adopt, Brussels is also featured in the Beauty & Nudes section and his work for Bellerose with agency Happiness, Brussels is featured in the Children’s section.

Stewart Cohen
Category: Life
Agency: Red7e, Kentucky
Creative: Dan Barbercheck
Client: Baptist Hospital East

Florian Geiss
Category: Life
Self Promotion

Michael Schnabel
Category: Interiors
Publication: Zeit Magazin

Schnabel’s self-promotional work also appears in the Landscape section.

Stuart Hall
Category: Landscape
Agency: CSS Europe, Birmingham
Client: International Trucks

Photo District News announces “the innovators who made the year in photography.” Erwin Olaf and Michael Schnabel were recognized for their advertising work, Stephen Wilkes was honored for three of his editorial pieces, and Stewart Cohen’s and Joel Meyerowitz’s photo books were lauded. Pictured above is Olaf’s “Voltaren” campaign with agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The campaign illustrates that with Voltaren gel, the elderly can become flexible as flexible as a ballerina, dancer, or yoga instructor. Creative Director: Magnus Olsson. Art Directors: Alexander Lagoet, Rick Coolegem.

Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Category: Advertising
Client: O2
Agency: VCCP Berlin
Creative Team: Lars Wohlnick, Michael Milczarek

While the chairs may appear to rest on snow, they are actually sitting in a white sand desert in South Africa. The tagline for the campaign reads “Creating new paths, so that you have it easier,” showing that O2 is willing to go the extra mile for the consumer. Learn More

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: The New York Times Magazine
Director of Photography: Kathy Ryan
Photo Editor: Clinton Cargill
Design Director: Arem Duplessis
Deputy Art Director: Gail Bichler

The dancers of Moses Pendlton’s troupe Momix grace the cover of “The Green Issue.”

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: New York Magazine
Photography Director: Jody Quon

Wilkes took a time-lapse photo of Washington Square Park in New York City, capturing the park from day to night.

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: Vanity Fair
Photography Director: Susan White
Assistant Photo Editor: Dana Kravis

Wilkes’ image appeared in the story about Bernard Madoff’s wife Ruth, “Ruth’s World.” Ruth appears in her Manhattan penthouse prior to her eviction by Federal Marshals.

Photographer: Joel Meyerowitz
Photo Book: Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New york City Parks
Editor: Lesley A. Martin
Forward: Phillip Lopate
Production: Matthew Pimm
Designer: Francesca Richer
Creative Director: Peter Buchanan-Smith
Publisher: Aperture Foundation

Not since the 1930s under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA campaign has a photographer attempted to document the nearly 9,000 acres of parks in New York City’s five boroughs. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz celebrates the beauty of New York’s City’s parks in the publication of Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks.

Photographer: Stewart Cohen
Designers: Todd Hart, Zech Bard/focus2
Copywriter: Bill Baldwin
Publisher: Dream Editions Press

Stewart Cohen’s book Identity examines a series of subjects and what makes them unique as individuals. The monograph is compromised of 50 portraits, to which each person Cohen poses the question, “What makes you unique as an individual?” The hand-written answers are displayed on the facing page, giving each portrait a personal touch.

Michael Schnabel finds the intersection of fine art, photography, and advertising in the latest campaign by VCCP Berlin for O2 in Germany. Owned by Telefónica, O2 is a leading provider of mobile phones and broadband in Europe. The tagline for the campaign reads “Creating new paths, so that you have it easier,” showing that O2 is willing to go the extra mile for the consumer.

The images are expansive landscapes that have objects within them that could be viewed as ordered randomness. Ladders, lamps, umbrellas, and chairs all seem casually placed but draw a definitive line for the eye to follow. Says Schnabel, “[The advertising agency] wanted to have the objects embedded in nature as if an artist had laid out an installation and then a photographer happened to pass by and shoot them.”

The subtle quietness of the images are the product of hours of deliberate planning. The crew traveled to South Africa and Namibia and procured 300 ladders, 80 lamps, 200 umbrellas, and more than 50 chairs. They were assembled over 500 yards of open field, lagoon, and deserts filled with white sand. The daunting task of set building seemed almost Herculean and the creative director said, “Michael, its a nightmare.” Schnabel responded, “Lars, its going to work out, but I agree, its a tough one.”

Placing the lamps and chairs were simple enough, but the umbrellas and ladders required hardware. The umbrellas were hung from a wire and the ladders were held above the water with specially made steel posts that were inserted into the lagoon to make the ladders appear as if they were floating.

Schnabel and the creative team conducted hours of research before construction began, drawing inspiration from artists such as Christo and Jeanne-Claude and Richard Serra. Christo and Jeanne-Claude are known for their temporary, large-scale installations that combine objects and nature, as with “The Umbrellas,” 3,100 umbrellas simultaneously opened and placed in valleys in California, USA and Ibaraki, Japan. Richard Serra constructs monumental free standing sculptures in nature and corporate environments alike.

Remarks Schnabel of the campaign, “There’s a fine art philosophy behind it. Yes, it’s advertising, and there is something to be sold, but it’s an unusual crossover because we’ve created these installations and are thinking very conceptually.”

Of his photographic approach, Schnabel recalls, “I was pulling myself back as a photographer more than I usually do – trying to shoot more in a documentary style and not bring myself too much into it, but in the end we ended up using quite a bit of ‘Schnabel’ photography.” Indeed, Schnabel leaves his indelible mark on the photographs, manipulating the light and field of depth to create landscapes that are undoubtedly his.

The O2 campaigns are currently all over Germany in print advertisements, point of purchase displays, and marketing materials. Look for it in a German publication near you.

-Helen Shih

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Client: O2
Campaign: Neue Wege gehen. Damit Sie es einfacher haben.
Agency: VCCP Berlin
Creative Director: Lars Wohlnick
Art Director: Michael Milczarek
Photography: Michael Schnabel

The Lucie Awards is the annual gala ceremony that celebrates master photographers and their contributions to the field of photography. Congratulations to Michael Schnabel for being nominated for the Photographer of the Year award. Schnabel received first place in the architecture category for his Autobahn story that appeared in SPREAD Artculture magazine.

More images and Schnabel’s Honorable Mentions after the link.

Architecture: Bridges
First Prize: Autobahn

Schnabel also received the following honorable mentions from the International Photography Awards:

Advertising: Automotive
Hyundai

Fine art: Landscape
Stille Berge

Architecture: Interior
Museums

Michael Schnabel traveled to sunny southern California to photograph the worldwide campaign for the Can-Am Spyder RT Roadster. During the 7-day shoot he dealt with a sandstorm, a marathon production schedule, and atypical models. Find out how he found grace under pressure and view more images from the campaign after the link.

What were some of the challenges that you faced with this shoot?
We had a crazy schedule, but I still wanted to maintain the quality that I’m after. The tricky part was that ideally we wanted to have 16 different locations for 16 shots. Sometimes we had to do three shots a day; and entering a sandstorm on the first day was kind of a tough start, yet everybody took it well. We were sitting together until midnight to see how to solve the situation and the next morning we got up extra early to take care of what we could. One way or another we were going to make it work.

How did you feel working on a campaign in such a short amount of time?
Knowing I’m going to pull off 16 shots within a limited time frame I know I’m going to love some shots right away and there’s some that I’m not going to love as much. Picking up the pace is exciting and fun because you just move faster and it enhances the amount of experience I’m getting.

What was your first impression of the Can-Am Spyder and from there, how did you develop your strategy for shooting it to show off its features?
The machines are unusual. Since the motorcycles are different from what’s usually out there, parts of it are kind of tricky because you want to see that it’s a tricycle and you want to try to keep in mind that there’s a 3^rd wheel and some angles just didn’t work, but we were just going for it.

Where did you shoot the campaign?
We were within a radius of 4 hours around Los Angeles. It was a mixture of landscape and cityscape depending on which motorcycle we wanted to feature. I used to live in San Francisco for awhile assisting a photographer, so California in a way is home and I’m always excited to come out there. We used most of the budget for location mainly and having the right tools.

Did you use professional motorcycle riders or regular models?
We used a shootmaker which is the vehicle that follows the leads while doing motion shots, and it wasn’t necessary to have stunt drivers. It’s always safer to have a stunt driver, but it’s not hard to drive. The co drivers – the blonde female models and one male model – were booked through a talent agency for half a day. But other than that, the client drove, the account person drove, and we also used the mechanic as a model. Everyone was excited to jump on board and get to do more than they usually would.

Did you get to ride the Can-Am Spyder? How was it?
Yes, I wanted to get the experience and feel for riding it. It was very easy to drive; balance wasn’t an issue at all. People would take them on the freeway and cruise from one location to another.

Final thoughts?
We had great spirits throughout and thus everything went well.

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Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Creatives: Todd Stone, Shawn Holpfer
Agency: Cramer-Kasselt
Post production: Etizy Digital Artwork
Production Team: Halprin

View more of Michael Schnabel’s portfolio here.
For more information on the Can-Am Spyder RD Roadster, visit the website.

-Helen Shih

Michael Schnabel collaborated with Team One on a campaign to launch the Lexus HS Hybrid. The images are a combination of photography and CGI.