"Good enough is not good enough for us"
Fabian Scheffold and Istvan Vizner practice photography as an art form with the highest standards of craftsmanship
Fabian Scheffold and Istvan Vizner pursue photography as art with the highest standards of craftsmanshipBy Bruno Amstutz Combining two different points of view into a common perspective - this is the goal that young photographers Fabian Scheffold and Istvan Vizner pursued with the creation of the scheffold.vizner label. Three years ago, the creative team of photographers took up residence in a former engine winding plant on Zypressenstrasse in Zurich. Today, they operate worldwide from this base.
In the high, bright factory rooms, the two entrepreneurs have built up a state-of-the-art operation. Studio, hybrid photo lab, analog drum scanner, their own computer network and image archive enable Scheffold and Vizner to carry out all operations from camera release to digital post-production within their own four walls. "We're maniacs who get all the equipment ourselves and can also operate it," explains Fabian Scheffold.
The advantage of this attitude is a great deal of autonomy for the team. "We want to determine for ourselves at what point we relinquish control over an image," Scheffold emphasizes. This healthy paranoia has its origins in the young creatives' sense of quality: "As pixelmachos, we always try to get the last out of it, and give a hundred percent effort even for the last five percent of the work."
That this attitude is appreciated is shown by the commissions for campaigns from Swatch, Swissair, Swisscom, Smart, Tages-Anzeiger, Migros, Ascom and UBS. But living up to one's own high standards is difficult. "It's also exhausting," says Vizner, "because you're never completely satisfied."
The collaboration was born from a friendship
The scheffold.vizner project started in 1997. The collaboration had already been tested on various commissions; the duo had been friends for years. Cooperation and mutual complementation finally culminated in the joint company.
The 34-year-old Vizner can draw on his experience from the agency world: After the preliminary course at the School of Design, he completed an apprenticeship as a graphic designer. As a freelance AD, he managed campaigns for Lowe|GGK Zurich, Advico Young & Rubicam or Publicis. In between these jobs, Istvan Vizner always found time to travel long distances and take photographs along the way. Eight years before founding the company, he started his own business.
For 33-year-old Fabian Scheffold, the path to professional photography led via Steinerschule and Matura. He then concentrated on project management in the IT sector. Self-taught training as a press photographer and assistantships also led Scheffold to self-employment as a photographer in 1993.
As scheffold.vizner, the two talents try to optimally combine their experiences and qualities. The two personalities merge to form a corporate identity. "What comes from our house comes from scheffold.vizner," emphasizes Fabian Scheffold, "it is absolutely unimportant who did which part." The close collaboration has the advantage of mutual creative cross-fertilization, but it has also become a necessity. "We may sell ourselves as photographers," explains Istvan Vizner, "but it's actually a whole bunch of professions that we do."
Business know-how and cost control are just as important as conceptual and creative thinking. Finally, having your own computer network is a prerequisite for efficient digital postproduction.
Until the vision coincides with the result
For the photographer duo, postproduction is a natural tool for conveying their image ideas. "Digital editing must never become an end in itself," the two agree. "For us, it's not a service to the customer, but to ourselves." For this reason, Scheffold and Vizner also process exclusively their own image material.
Using digital means, they put the finishing touches on images until the photographic vision coincides with the final result. For scheffold.vizner, the quality of their work lies in this striving for perfection, even in the final details: "Good enough, anyone can do that. But good enough is not good enough for us."
In the high, bright factory rooms, the two entrepreneurs have built up a state-of-the-art operation. Studio, hybrid photo lab, analog drum scanner, their own computer network and image archive enable Scheffold and Vizner to carry out all operations from camera release to digital post-production within their own four walls. "We're maniacs who get all the equipment ourselves and can also operate it," explains Fabian Scheffold.
The advantage of this attitude is a great deal of autonomy for the team. "We want to determine for ourselves at what point we relinquish control over an image," Scheffold emphasizes. This healthy paranoia has its origins in the young creatives' sense of quality: "As pixelmachos, we always try to get the last out of it, and give a hundred percent effort even for the last five percent of the work."
That this attitude is appreciated is shown by the commissions for campaigns from Swatch, Swissair, Swisscom, Smart, Tages-Anzeiger, Migros, Ascom and UBS. But living up to one's own high standards is difficult. "It's also exhausting," says Vizner, "because you're never completely satisfied."
The collaboration was born from a friendship
The scheffold.vizner project started in 1997. The collaboration had already been tested on various commissions; the duo had been friends for years. Cooperation and mutual complementation finally culminated in the joint company.
The 34-year-old Vizner can draw on his experience from the agency world: After the preliminary course at the School of Design, he completed an apprenticeship as a graphic designer. As a freelance AD, he managed campaigns for Lowe|GGK Zurich, Advico Young & Rubicam or Publicis. In between these jobs, Istvan Vizner always found time to travel long distances and take photographs along the way. Eight years before founding the company, he started his own business.
For 33-year-old Fabian Scheffold, the path to professional photography led via Steinerschule and Matura. He then concentrated on project management in the IT sector. Self-taught training as a press photographer and assistantships also led Scheffold to self-employment as a photographer in 1993.
As scheffold.vizner, the two talents try to optimally combine their experiences and qualities. The two personalities merge to form a corporate identity. "What comes from our house comes from scheffold.vizner," emphasizes Fabian Scheffold, "it is absolutely unimportant who did which part." The close collaboration has the advantage of mutual creative cross-fertilization, but it has also become a necessity. "We may sell ourselves as photographers," explains Istvan Vizner, "but it's actually a whole bunch of professions that we do."
Business know-how and cost control are just as important as conceptual and creative thinking. Finally, having your own computer network is a prerequisite for efficient digital postproduction.
Until the vision coincides with the result
For the photographer duo, postproduction is a natural tool for conveying their image ideas. "Digital editing must never become an end in itself," the two agree. "For us, it's not a service to the customer, but to ourselves." For this reason, Scheffold and Vizner also process exclusively their own image material.
Using digital means, they put the finishing touches on images until the photographic vision coincides with the final result. For scheffold.vizner, the quality of their work lies in this striving for perfection, even in the final details: "Good enough, anyone can do that. But good enough is not good enough for us."
