Edward: Welcome to Connex247 site John. Tell us about your background.

John: I come from Germany, was born and raised in rural suburbia near Nuremberg, went the  OCC School of Photography in California and have been dividing my time between Los Angeles and Berlin for the last 10 years.

Edward:  How did you become interested in a career as a photographer?

John: I was taking acting in high-school. Stage lighting helped me groom my vision and I started taking portraits and nudes of my fellow acting students in a makeshift studio at home.

Edward:  Share your special interests as photographer

John: It’s aways been a passion of mine to capture and direct people in a theatrical way. Creating a mood or a feeling with light and an expression or a pose never gets old to me.

Edward: What do you look most when selecting models to shoot?

John: I definitely have weakness for beauty and I get stunned by it. But it also takes a certain  spark, edge and personality to catch my eye.

Edward: You seem to have helped a number of models with their careers. What do you really feel about that?

John: I happen to believe in treating people well and of course I help models that I believe in. They inspire me and in that sense they helping me as well.

Edward: What advice would you give to young models and the aspiring ones?

John: Work hard, be adventurous, open-minded, creative and enjoy the attention.

Edward:  There must be special moments when you feel that you have captured a perfect picture... Share this passion with us. How does this special moment happen?

John: It’s an interactive process and I find the best images come out of shoots that are a true creative collaboration between the model and myself.

Edward:  If you could select 5 fantastic places around the world for a shooting, which ones you´d choose and why?

John: That’s a tough question. One place that always gets me is New York. To me it’s the quintessential city of the western world with an incredible vibe. L.A. and especially Berlin also continue to inspire me big time. I also love really dramatic looking abandoned places. You can tell I’m an urban-type person!

Edward: If a model wants to work with you, how do they get in touch? They can go to http://www.johnaigner.com and write to us through the contact page. Someone will get back to them.

Edward: John, leave a message to Connex247 readers around the world

John: A picture is worth a thousand dreams.

SUMMER IN HOLLYWOOD
John Aigner just returned to Berlin after spending the past three months in the U.S. producing magazine covers and editorials for several publications.  Among them were a personality editorial and a fold-out cover and fashion spread for ‘Palm Springs Life’ magazine.

Other projects included an exclusive cover shoot for ‘Mate’ magazine in the Hollywood Hills with pop music’s new shooting Stars ‘Nemesis’  (http://www.nemesisrising.com) and a homestory shoot for Austria’s ‘Seitenblicke’ magazine starring Madonna’s father and passionate vineyard owner Tony Ciccone.

Three days before leaving L.A. John had the pleasure of shooting legendary model and pop culture icon Tony Ward (http://www.tony-ward.com) wearing pieces from his own brand new designer t-shirt label.

AIGNER SIGNS WITH LIMEFOTO
In September John joined the ranks of top photographers Herb Ritts  and Tony Duran by signing with photo syndication agency ‘Limefoto’ in Beverly Hills. From now on John will be part of the agency’s exquisite group of select photographers and his celebrity and fashion images will available exclusively through ‘Limefoto’ (www.limefoto.com).

MEET JOHN AIGNER AT FOTOBILD 2006 PHOTO FAIR
As the Berlin correspondent of Australia’s ‘Black+White’ and ‘blue+’ photo magazines John will be appearing as a portfolio reviewer at Germany’s photographers’ fair ‘FOTOBILD 2006’ in Berlin ( http://www.fotobild-berlin.de ). The lineup of reviewers includes an impressive list of publishers, editors, curators, galleries and photo experts. John will be reviewing portfolios on November 11 and 12, 2006.

Be sure to check out more of John's work in his gallery here on connex247!
Photos are copyright 2006 by John Aigner.