capturing JAN HOFER
mr. tagesschau
jan hofer. the face of certainty. decades behind the desk, delivering the news with a voice that never wavered. measured, calm, precise. no opinion, no hesitation. just the facts. germany trusted him. then one night, he said goodbye. the suit stayed, the teleprompter moved on. but something lingered. a man who became an institution. mr. tagesschau.
walking through the city, finding light, letting moments happen. portraits should feel like passing glances, like something seen from the corner of your eye. no studios, no setups—just people in places, blending in, standing out.
i asked jan: you’ve been photographed thousands of times. what’s different about this shoot?
he said: you take your time. and you want to show me.
maybe that's it. i need three, sometimes four hours for a portrait session. walking with my subjects. talking. a lot. trying to understand who they are, who they might be when no one is looking. and of course, building trust.
because standing in front of a lens is awful.
maybe it's like being naked. i wouldn't know. but i can imagine.
behind the scenes
our first scene was in la lonja de palma. jan’s wife was there. she takes care of his social media. she filmed some clips. maybe you’ve seen them on Instagram.
if not, check them out: part 1 and part 2.
i caught her on camera too. so now you see the setup. the place. the mood.
gear does matter
let’s be honest. of course, you can take headshots with a small camera and a zoom lens. will they look great? under perfect conditions—long focal length, close distance, background far away—sure. but it limits what you can do.
when there’s movement, i use sony. the 85mm gm ii f/1.4, the 135mm gm f/1.8. world-class autofocus. no other camera keeps up.
when it’s slower, i love the leica sl3. the 50mm summilux f/1.4, the 90mm apo summicron f/2. or the fuji gfx 100 ii. digital medium format. not quite real medium format. the 55mm f/1.7, the 110mm f/2. about 45 and 90mm in full-frame terms.
also have a look at jan hofer´s instagram!
