Hasselblad Announces Winner of Third Round of Anniversary Quiz
1/16/2007 The third round of the Hasselblad Anniversary Quiz has been won by Thomas Knieps, a German photographer based in Düsseldorf, who specializes in fashion, beauty and reportage work. The online quiz, which involved providing photographic guidance to ‘young, talented photographer, Peter’, was open to photographers worldwide as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations to mark the birth of the company’s founder, Victor Hasselblad. Markus Malangeri, Regional Manager of Hasselblad, presented Thomas with his prize, a limited edition Hasselblad 503CWD camera, worth over 14.000 Euros.
Thomas’s photographic career began at AGFA Gevaert at Leverkusen in Germany, where he received a formal education on the company’s highly regarded training course. He then worked as a photographic assistant all over Europe for six years, before becoming a professional photographer in 1999. Thomas has since built up a solid client base, particularly among jewelers such as M&M and Zarahlea Lamotte.
Although not previously a Hasselblad owner, Thomas has long been a fan and became particularly interested when Hasselblad’s new digital camera systems were exhibited at photokina last year. As a regular visitor to the Hasselblad web site, he then became aware of the Anniversary Quiz and decided to give it a try, although he never thought he’d actually win anything. So, on hearing that he’d won the third round of the quiz, Thomas was amazed as he recalls: “It was incredible! I only entered the quiz for a bit of fun and the next thing I know, I’ve won this superb camera! It didn’t really sink in though until I had actually held the Hasselblad in my own hands.”
Thomas is eager to start shooting with his new Hasselblad as soon as possible and plans to reserve its use for situations in which he feels he will gain the greatest benefit from the outstanding image quality the camera will deliver. “Although I’ll continue to use my 35mm DSLR for subjects in motion, I’ll use the Hasselblad 503CWD mainly for beauty, hair and fashion shoots in my studio, where, due to the size of the sensor, which is much larger than 35mm format cameras, I expect to achieve a substantial increase in quality.”
Uwe Moebus, Managing Director of Hasselblad Germany, comments: “Congratulations to Thomas on winning the third round of the Anniversary Quiz. The Hasselblad 503CWD is a fitting tribute to the design process that Victor Hasselblad started himself in the 1940s and therefore a fitting prize for the quiz. Having been passionate about photography, Victor would have loved the concept of digital photography, and in the 503CWD kit, with its stylish retro body and advanced digital capture technology offering the ideal balance of old and new Hasselblad, he would recognize the culmination of his own work.”
Fully compatible with the classic Hasselblad V System, the 503CWD camera was developed specifically to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Victor Hasselblad’s birth and produced in a limited edition series of only 500. Custom built around the classic Hasselblad 503 camera and with its range of high-performance, central shutter based lenses, the 503CWD includes the addition of a high-end 16 megapixel back with a sensor that is 50% larger than full-frame 35mm DSLRs.
Not only does the Hasselblad 503CWD satisfy the aesthetic needs of V System fans, but it also boasts very advanced and, in some aspects, unique digital technology, such as Hasselblad Natural Color Solution, Instant Approval Architecture, and versatile storage and workflow.
To view Thomas Knieps’s work, please visit: www.thomasknieps.de