Peer Hanslik took the time to answer ten questions about himself and his photography for our "Artists" blog.

1. What first inspired your interest in photography? What continues to inspire you?

The possibility to catch authenticity fascinates me. To conserve scenes and to document them.
The human being, groups of people – how and where they live, work and where they spend their free time. Often also with an ironic look.     

2. How would you describe your photographic vision? What kind of message do you try to impart?

I think that every day on our planet there is an infinite number of scenes, situations and moments happening. So I don’t have to stage any photos. My motto is “Reality kicks!”.
I see myself as someone searching for situations. Then I wait there for “the moment”, always in close contact with the event.

3. Are there people (photographers, writers, artists, family & friends) who had or have an influence on how you approach photography?

Photographers: Martin Parr, Eliott Erwitt, H. Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa – generally the whole photo agency Magnum.

4. Do you feel that your identity changes when you lift the camera to your eye? Do you act differently?

No, I only become more concentrated and clearer. Often there is also a lot of adrenaline released, like when you’re playing roulette and the ball starts rolling.

5. A lot of your work takes place in close contact with your subjects. How do you approach people on the street?

I rarely speak to people before I take photographs. They begin otherwise to pose and then they act not authentic. I often wait and if possible do not look through the lens while photographing so that everything seems more unobtrusive.

6. Is there a difference in the way you approach paid assignments and personal projects?

Most of the time I find my own topics and commercialize the pictures afterwards. In the case of assignments the moment of tension is often missing – the "unexpected" for me. No client is as good a designer and art director as reality itself.

7. What is the most memorable experience you’ve had as a photographer?

During a church service 500 witnesses of Jehovah have sung and prayed for me and my camera, all on my command…

8. Is there something like the “photograph not taken” in your work? Where and how do you draw the line in what to shoot and what not to shoot?

War, personal misery and criminalistic photography are not my topic.

9. Tell us about some of your photos. Why do you like them and what’s the story behind them?

“Bahia Carnival” is a black and white photo that I shot on a roaring night in Bahia de Salvador. Here one can really get a feeling for the muggy, erotic and rhythmic world of northern Brazil. And in the same way the anarchy and boundlessness that is hovering over the carnival there.

 “India Bus station” was made at a bus station in the heart of India where I arrived after spending two days on the bus – for approx. 7,50 US dollars. These boys were the first to greet me at the windows of the bus. The clear looks and tidy shirts and hairdos fascinated me, here in this faraway region.

I photographed “Ipanema” on a Sunday afternoon at Posto 6 at the beach of Ipanema. The poorer inhabitants of the Zona Norte of Rio like to come to this part of the beach to enjoy the waves of the South Atlantic Ocean. Due to the underexposure the bathing people lose their individuality and become timeless, anonymous beings in a faraway place.

10. Where is your photography going? What future photographic projects are you excited about?

In summer I will photograph the bathing-culture on the Crimea at the Black Sea. And in Sevastopol, the harbor city of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, I will do a documentary project on night life.

I’d like to design a photo book about bathing-cultures worldwide.

Peer, thank you very much for your time!