Matthias Messer is a photographer refusing to be associated with one single subject. Whilst his professional focus has been on industrial installations, locations and products, specialising on high magnification, high resolution shots of very small, even sub mm, items, he has also done events, weddings, high-street shops, industrial locations and food. In his spare time he tends to gravitate towards landscape and portraits.
He was born last century into a family of scientists, wine-farmers and artists, a curious but inspiring mixture. Photography was a very early interest. His first attempts were made just after the toddler phase using the by now legendary Kodak Instamatic and later a Virgin Edixa SLR with an epic Schneider 50mm f/1.9. It is hard to imagine today, but back then the limiting factor to gathering experience was really the cost of film and development.
Later (AD 1997 to be precise), he welcomed the digital age earlier than was altogether advisable, enthusiastically trying out equipment ridiculously inferior to any film camera. Gradually things improved however, and after some hardware-steps in-between he is now an established digital shooter. Although he understands that for creating good photographs a whole universe of things is more important than your equipment, he will always remain a gear head. It is not uncommon in the profession, one has heard.
After all these years, he is still fascinated by what can be done to capture the world on film (or sensor) - even beyond what is obvious to the naked eye. And so his main area of interest as a professional photographer is to create very high resolution images of very small objects for product display (see gallery). This involves much more know-how, equipment and specialised processes than just stopping down a macro lens and taking a snap. His images have been used by clients for marketing of small electronic components like SMD transistors, for food ingredients from a microscopic perspective, or for trouble-shooting of products looking for micro-faults in soldering or conductive areas to name but a few.
Moving up from the microscopic scale, he has shot components or entire plants of purpose-built machinery, industrial or domestic interior or exterior architecture for clients over the years. Please do have a look at the galleries for a quick overview of past work.