In the poppy fields with Steffen Gierok

About Steffen Gierok's photos

Steffen grew up in the quiet village of Augsdorf in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As a kid, he loved art and his favourite subject at school was art. Steffen could paint and draw for hours. After completing his training as a commercial artist, he decided to set up his own business. "For my business, I take pictures and edit photos, mainly of nature, landscapes, buildings and still life subjects," explains Steffen.

I just never get tired of photography

Steffen: "What fascinates me the most is that I can capture special, fleeting moments with my camera and turn them into something you can see. These are moments you never get back. So, I get to fight back a bit against constant change and the passage of time," says Steffen.

Steffen thinks that photos need to be more than just pictures. They need to be deep and full of emotions and feelings. "The beauty of photography is these distinctive emotions that you'll see in my photos. When people tell me that my photos made them feel something, that's the best compliment I can get," says Steffen. "I always want my photos to have that 'wow' effect on the viewer."

Mistakes, accidents and risks

According to Steffen, photography isn't just about capturing beautiful and special emotions, it's also about making mistakes. For example, he once drove miles to photograph a specific subject, only to realise when he got there that he'd left his second battery at home. He also kept forgetting his memory cards. Luckily, Steffen can look back and laugh.

Taking risks is all part of the process. For example, Steffen once waited in an open field for a thunderstorm that was due to coincide with sunset, in the hopes of photographing a fantastic sky. The interplay of clouds was electrifying and exciting. But when the thunderstorm started, violent lightning struck and enormous hailstones fell from the sky. Steffen started to panic and tried to get away quickly. Fortunately, he was able to find shelter nearby with the owner of an allotment.

His favourite piece

Steffen is very personally attached to the pieces "Poppy flower field" and "Sunset at the Baltic Sea". The photo from the western beach was a complete fluke and captured exactly how Steffen was feeling at that moment. The poppies make him think of his childhood and they're expressive and powerful because of their bright red colour. For Steffen, only the photos that are able to hold his attention in both the short term and in the long term are truly successful.