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About Andreas Schindler (Arlequin Photographie)
My membership of Ipernity is now in its sixth year. I came to Ipernity at a time when the increasing commercialization of existing photo sites and/or communities was increasingly limiting my creativity. Trendy photos were highlighted, while the real treasures remained hidden. This is not surprising, the operators of these sites are profit-oriented, but they live from our work and our enthusiasm. They create a presentation space – but nothing more than that.

I came to Ipernity, a real community, without commercialization, that connects people worldwide with a love of photography. No deals are made here, no one asks, “What do I get in return?” Here you can cultivate real friendships around the globe, not based on “likes” but on real communication.

But Ipernity can do even more. We are a strong community that resists commercial pressure, and in the future we will have to communicate this even more to the outside world. Many of the approaches we have developed here are going in the right direction. And we should always keep in mind that no one is financially rewarded for their commitment. We do it because we enjoy doing something for others. And as Vice President, I would like to do more to promote this.

I am open to any suggestions that will help Ipernity to move forward and would like to make a greater effort to become more interesting for local photo groups. The permeability between real contacts and Ipernity must become more permeable. If possible, people should meet. Of course, this is not always possible due to the distances involved, but where it is possible, it should be encouraged and implemented.

The joy of photography runs in our family. My grandmother was passionate about photography, took lots of pictures and was good at it. She used it as a second source of income because she was the only person in the village who owned a camera until the second half of the 1940s. So many of her pictures are of weddings or other events that took place in our village between about 1930 and 1945. After that, one of her sons-in-law took over the business of photography. My photographic career was then quite different and, depending on equipment and interest, it was sometimes more intense and sometimes not at all. It was only with the beginning of the new millennium that things really took off in practice.

Like many of us, I come from a generation that experienced the great icons of photography, whom we celebrate today, as photographers in their early days and earlier creative phases. That also left its mark on me, even though I was experiencing the exciting phase of my childhood at the time, when these images also served an urge for knowledge. These are images that are now considered masterpieces and were published in newspapers and magazines at the time. Today, I am still a fan of the big illustrated magazines with a focus on photojournalism, such as Life Magazine.

Today, I use my photography both professionally and as a hobby. The professional part is also in the field of photojournalism - even if I don't like to compare it with the heyday of that time. And through “my photojournalism” I have often found myself in the role of information and public relations work, whether for the German armed forces or for various church parishes (but mostly without pay there). When I see the whole spectrum of my photography, I don't see the areas of work, volunteering and hobby as strictly separate from each other, i.e. the areas intertwine and are interchangeable. Overall, they influence each other.

Andreas Schindler, March 2025

8 comments

Xata said:

We are indeed a niche for those wwho are not keen on instant sharing and collecting likes and friends per hundreds... quality vs quantity...
2 weeks ago

Colin Ashcroft said:

A very interesting article. Local Photo Groups seems like a good direction for iPernity, it’s how I ended up here even though that was something I didn’t stay involved with for long. I wonder if iPernity could find a way of encouraging the creation of new local photo groups and making that a reason for new people to join iPernity. After saying that I am short of ideas of how it could be achieved (sorry!)
2 weeks ago

* ઇଓ * said:

Andreas, thank you for your willingness to serve as Vice President of ipernity!
I wish you and the future IMA team every success and a good and constructive cooperation.
2 weeks ago

Tanja - Loughcrew said:

Du sprichst mir aus dem Herzen Andreas!
Das jährliche Hamburgtreffen ist Kult, darüber hinaus finden 1-2 kleinere oder teilweise private Treffen statt. Oft liegt es daran, dass der überwiegende Teil nun auch schon etwas älter ist...der jüngere Teil die Orga für ein Treffen nicht stemmen kann (aus beruflichen Gründen) oder wie ich nicht daran teilnehmen kann, weil fast Vollzeit berufstätig.
Vielleicht muss ein Treffen auch nicht gleich immer Programmstress beinhalten...treiben lassen und gemeinsam entscheiden...wie auch immer, ich denke, das wäre eine Belebung!
Ich schätze hier vor allem die Tatsache, dass wir aus aller Welt zusammen kommen und viel voneinander lernen können.....Danke für Deine Gedanken!
2 weeks ago ( translate )

Christoph Blau said:

Hallo Andreas

Hoffe das Dein Projekt mit dem präsentieren unserer Ipernityseite auf der Fotomesse Photon in Illingen vom Fr 05.09.2025 bis 07.09.2025 ein Erfolg wird.Weiss nicht ob wir es noch einrichten können mit den Fotofreunden Saarburg in Illingen auf der Photon vorbei zu kommen.Damit du und dein Team Euch auch mal auf den anderen Ständen der Photon umsehen könnt und eine Pause habt.

Wir sehen uns dann auf dem von Dir angestoßen Treffen in Saarburg (Rlp/Saarland) am 12.09 bis 14.09 . Das Ziel von dem Treffen ist das wir raus aus dem Internet zu realen Treffen kommen.Aber es gibt auch für alle noch ein paar Fotoziele.
Interesse geweckt dann

www.ipernity.com/group/fotogruppe-grossregion/discuss

Fragen ? einfach eine Email an mich richten !

Gruss Christoph Blau
13 days ago ( translate )

Annemarie said:

Thanks Andreas for making your thought official!

all the best here and wherever!
13 days ago

Ingo Krehl said:

Meine Sicht auf Ipernity
Für kommerzielle Fotografie hat ip keine Reichweite zu potentiellen Kunden, die Bilder werden nicht von den Suchmaschinen gefunden – eine Option die eigenen Bilder auch zu veröffentlichen könnte für manche Mitglieder/Interessenten wichtig sein.
Die Möglichkeit alle seine Bilder, Alben oder Ergebnisse einer Suche interessierten ohne Registrierung zugänglich machen zu können ist auch für kommerzielle Fotografen ein Vorteil.
Auch die Möglichkeit ein in ip nicht öffentliches Album Kunden zeitlich begrenzt zur Ansicht/Download öffnen zu können ist sehr wertvoll.
Ein sehr großer Vorteil von ip ist, dass die Metadaten nicht gelöscht werden. Bei allen mir bekannten Fotoplattformen werden die Metadaten gelöscht – damit werde ich enteignet! Auch dass könnte für kommerzielle Fotografen wichtig sein.
9 days ago ( translate )

Jörg Wetzestein said:

So soll es doch auch sein, man macht, macht aus Überzeugung. Teilen, Spaß haben und auch lernen mit Spaß, sich entwickeln, geholfen bekommen ohne das eine Erwartung daran gebunden ist. Es soll ein Miteinander sein, verbinden.
3 days ago ( translate )