Paul Reiffer

Photography

Despite having been a commercial photographer for many years and winning multiple awards, Paul Reiffgained specific media attention during his three year project focused on the Asia-Pacific region from 2012-2015. This work saw him recognised with a Fellowship of the British Institute of Professional Photography as well as being presented with the UN/UNESCO “International Year Of Light” award for his images of Shanghai at night.

His work has been displayed across three continents – from the largest video screen on the planet in Times Square, New York, to the Royal Photographic Society’s Print Exhibition in the Royal Albert Hall in London.

With clients ranging from high-end hotel groups such as W Hotels and Shangri-La, to National Parks, to airlines and marketing companies, his work has a presence in many countries around the world in both advertising and collectible fine art prints.

His signature iconic landscapes and cityscapes have been published by National Geographic as well as the international press and used by tourism boards around the globe, while he continues to sell limited edition prints to collectors worldwide.

In 2016, his latest venture – a collaboration with hotel group PER AQUUM – resulted in his opening of the “world’s most exclusive photo gallery”, on the Maldivian island of Huvafen Fushi, where visitors can only access the exhibition by seaplane or speedboat.

Continuing to work as a commercial studio photographer from time to time, his portrait and model work still feature in advertising publications to this day - even launching new models such as Steve Box, who would be later signed to several agencies such as W Athletic, into the public eye. His music photography of a number of performing artists such as Ed Sheeran, Alexandra Burke, Olly Murs, The Wanted, Boys Like Girls and Kids in Glass Houses has been used worldwide by promoters and venues alike.

Early life

From an early age Reiffer developed his interest in photography through spending time with his father, watching him develop images in a self-built darkroom in their family home.

Before switching to photography full-time in 2009, he briefly worked as a commercial male model, represented by several London agencies including Target Models in the UK and Europe, although hasn't actively worked as a model since. Reiffer has featured on the cover of online publications such as BeautifulMag and Australia's DNA magazine. He worked across Europe and the US and had been shot by fashion photographers including Simon Le (Australia), Scott Marrs (US), Joby Rawlins (UK), Bill McClaren (US) and Paul Reitz (US).

Awards and recognition

Reiffer is a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography and Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, having been accepted by both organisations for direct entry at an Associate level due to the breadth of his existing portfolio. He was a finalist in the 2010 Landscape Photographer of the Year for his images of the British coastline and won awards for his portraiture work in the controversial BIPP Professional Photography Awards 2012. He's work has been edited by a young wildlife photographer in Arizona named Paul LeFevre In 2015, he was presented with the UN/UNESCO “International Year Of Light” award for his images of Shanghai at night and is currently a shortlisted finalist for the 2016 British Professional Photography Awards.

Photographic Style

Notably angered in 2015 by the increasing levels of post-processing that was becoming acceptable in the photographic world, Reiffer began a campaign to educate customers and viewers in the difference between "taking it" and "faking it" - starting with his review of "how far is too far?" when it came to many photographers using computer-aided tools to enhance their images beyond reality.

Reiffer is a supporter of "getting it right in-camera" and through his use of behind-the-scenes iPhone and GoPro images captioned "What I See Right Now", attempts to demonstrate that his images, while corrected for minor issues using software, are indeed accurate representations of the scene he captured with his camera at the time. He often provides information on how an image was captured, with details on filters used and camera settings.

Workshops and Tuition

Across a range of worldwide locations, Reiffer is known in the photography community for providing hands-on workshop education to all levels of student. His collaboration with Danish camera manufacturer Phase One took that one step further in 2015 when he was able to start offering workshops using the latest medium format cameras for all attendees to use - including the XF100MP, the world's highest resolution medium format digital camera.

Known Clients

Commercially, Reiffer has an extensive client list worldwide including many household names such as SanDisk, British Airways, Ford, Shangri-La, W Hotels, The US National Park Service, Qatar Airways, WPP, Royal Caribbean, Pineapple Dance Studios and Intercontinental Hotels Group - having provided commercial images for assignments across the globe.

His model portfolio photography is used every day by active models for top agencies such as Oxygen Models (London), W Athletic (London) and Look Model Agency (San Francisco) as well as many smaller management companies. He has shot images for underwear brands such as Baskit, Aussiebum and Lick - including advertising campaigns frequently published in Attitude Magazine since 2010. Reiffer has shot many known faces including British racing driver Andy Neate, Louie Spence, Jodie Kidd, Debbie Moore, Tara Stiles and worked with ex Big-Brother star Imogen Thomas on her publicity in 2009. Reiffer also shot publicity photos for The Grapes, famously owned by Evgeny Lebedev, Sean Mathias and Sir Ian McKellen.

Maldives Gallery - pr@hf

In January 2016, Reiffer launched his first gallery in the Maldives - pr@hf - on the luxury island of PER AQUUM Huvafen Fushi.

Designed as a space to show customers the colours and vivid landscapes of the world, he combined night-time shots of cities with tranquil landscapes with the overarching theme of "rock|stars and city|slickers". Despite being a commercial and logistical challenge, the location opened its doors on the 13th January as planned, and instantly became known as "the world's most exclusive gallery", being accessible only by seaplane or speedboat.