hello@rudidubrovnik.com
+49 152 2521 5371
The Man behind the Lens
Rudi has been in love with the sea, the surf and photography since he was a child. Together with his young family he continues to follow his passion on adventures around the world. He almost exclusively shoots on film and may therefore well be pictured as an analogue nomad in a digital time. His photography reflects his thinking in possibilities and questions the common priority of efficiency over effectiveness, individual fulfilment, and self-expression.
“For me the magic about photography is that I am actually preserving moments. By the time I have taken a photo the moment itself is gone for good. My experience tells me that everything fades in our memories no matter how sublime it may have been. Images and written words, however, let us travel through time and space as if there were no boundaries. The process of shooting with a film camera for me is an incredible experience in itself. I enjoy the whole mechanics, chemistry and processing involved. Also you never really know what you get. And surely there’s no second chance once I decided that I have taken enough photos at a time. And if then some of them or even a lot come out really well it makes me more than happy. Analogue photography is an adventure and I love adventures.”
What happended so far…
1985 | Born on 26 August in Dresden, Germany.
1991 | Got my first camera in a package full of presents that my second cousin had sent every year from Western Germany. Started taking analogue photos of family, friends, and holidays.
2005 | Began surfing on the French Atlantic coast and commenced Environmental Engineering studies at the University of Freiberg, Germany.
2008 | Spent five months in Western Australia working in hospitality, surfing, and studying Oceanography and Hydrology. Documented the whole stay in a collection of digital photos.
2010 | Drove my newly bought camper van to Northern Norway for the summer months, working on a marine remediation project and surfing the Lofoten islands. Published photos monthly on a blog.
2011 | Completed M.Sc. thesis and started living in my van whilst working as a waiter, then traveled Portugal to practice surfing.
2012 | Traveled and photographed large parts of India and three Indonesian islands on a shoestring for 90 days before taking on my first professional job as a fuel cell engineer.
2013 | Fell in love with the sleeping beauty, my father's analogue SLR. Later resigned from my engineering position to create room for surfing, personal growth, and for yet unknown opportunities.
2014 | Experienced a humbling winter traveling along the coasts of Spain and Portugal before becoming a lifeguard and surf instructor in North Devon, England.
2015 | Moved to England and began studying analogue photography from a series of books. Set up my website and started getting my negatives scanned. Sold my first publication, a calendar featuring aesthetic images of England.
2016 | Moved to the Netherlands to get inspired by the spirit of entrepreneurship and the vast cultural range around Amsterdam. Elaborated my series Ireland during three surf and photo trips to the Emerald Isle. Published a second calendar Exploration.
2017 | Visited Africa for the first time and received honourable international feedback for my series South Africa leading to my first public photo exhibition Thandabantu, funded by the Saxon State Office for Culture. Published a third calendar Éire featuring big wave film photography from inside the water.
2018 | Witnessed the birth of my first child Ida and explored the art of photographing a baby. Moved to Brittany, France for a month where I started working on the Finistère project. Extended my activities by releasing a limited 100 piece edition of our calendar alongside a collection of postcards.
2022 | Finally created an ode to Portugal - the country where I spent most of my time abroad and whose waves have fascinated me since day one. Pubished a limited 100 piece calendar edition featuring poetry by Fernando Pessoa.
The Team
With Katharine from InstantVanGogh, Team Dubrovnik skipped a few levels and just went unreal. A first publicly funded photo exhibition and a tangible economic perspective of the whole thing were secret dreams once and are unbelievable reality now. Katha is not only the moving spirit of pretty much everything you see from Rudi Dubrovnik Analogue Photography but also the PR office and product design department in one person.
Our friends from Foto Labor Service Görner have been with us from the beginning. They are the ones who do all the film processing - from developing the film rolls to scanning the negatives in any resolution and on to artfully retouching single prints by hand! No matter where in the world we send the film rolls from, once they have arrived at the lab we know they are in best hands and it will not take long to see images. They also hosted our first photo exhibition which kicked off a whole avalanche of fresh enthusiasm to continue with what we do.
Equipment
“This camera indeed is a marvel of human ingenuity! A time machine! A tiny suitcase that fits the whole world with all its thoughts and feelings, ideas and achievements..”
PRAKTICA MTL 3, manufactured 1978 - 1984 in Dresden, GDR
Pentacon 2.8/29
Zeiss 2.8/50
Zeiss Sonnar 3.5/135
ewa-marine Water Housing U-FX
SL5 optical flash
Contact
For inquiries and questions, please give us a call, send an e-mail, or just use the form below. We are happy to hear from you!