#ignt_lightandshadow Winner Nathan Ishar

Every Thursday we announce a certain topic via a hashtag, afterwards you’ll have 4 days to make a photo related to our topic and upload it to your Instagram using the hashtag. Who submitted the best image will be featured as our Insta Fav in the following week. This weeks topic is #ignt_concretejungle and here are a few rules and tips:

– Please only submit your own photographs to the project and keep them in a square format. Any image tagged until Sunday 0.00 am MESZ is eligible to be featured right here.
– If you want to submit your photo, use the hashtag #ignt_concretejungle and upload your photo until Sunday the 28.06 on your Instagram account. Have fun and good luck, we can’t wait to see your submissions.

Cologne-based portrait, fashion and wedding photographer Nathan Ishar won this feature with his submission to our last weeks hashtag #ignt_lightandshadow. Thank you for all your submissions.

Follow: @pramoediya

When and where did you take the picture? Tell us a little about the idea behind it.

A few months ago, I was shooting lots of bright and close to all-white-photos with my phone and I really like the aesthetics. Sadly, it started to bore me a bit and I like to try out new stuff, since instagram should be fun, so I changed it to a different, very contrasty look with lots of dark tones.As this is quite tough to shoot on a regular basis in a minimalistic fashion, I am always on the look for possibilities to take decent pictures like that.
When @sar_gir and I went to one of my favorite spots in Cologne where some small but wonderful galleries are located, I saw this big window in one of them I instantly liked it and thought that it might make a great backdrop for a silhouette shot of her.

Where are you from? How does that place influence the way you photograph?

Currently, I live in Cologne, one of the bigger cities of Germany. Cologne is not one of the cities known for its beautiful cityscape and its unique and shootable places are rarely spread. Because of that, I probably got a bit more aware of unique and not obvious shots for taking photos at and I think it also made me appreciate some not so conventional places and looks more than if I’d live in a city where you have a ton of stunning places. Whenever you have to take photos (not in the studio and with lots of budget) to make the best out of your possibilities.

Who and what are the things that inspire you?

Movies inspired me a lot and are also the reason I got into photography. Nowadays, films and a lot of other photographers inspire me on a day to basis. My favorite filmmakers are Michael Haneke, Gaspar Noé, Stanley Kubrick, Steve Mc Queen and David Lynch. Photographers which inspire me are (among a lot of others) Tom Hoops, Mario Gerth, Arnold Newman, Edgar Berg, Henri-Cartier Bresson, and Eliot Erwitt.

Your favorite instagrammers?

@donchris, @grandmasterobi, @sar_gir, @itisnovember, @macenzo and @wejude

Which Apps do you use to edit your pictures?

For editing mobile pictures I use SKRWT, VSCO and Instagram.

Tell us a little about your everyday. (Family, friends, work, etc.)

Lots of my life revolves around photography nowadays since I am done with my studies for now and I am enjoying every minute that i can take and edit photos or look at magazines and photobooks. When i am not working on photos, I drink lots of coffee, listen to music and watch movies with friends, sometimes we cook and go to exhibitions and I try to travel as often as possible.