- You were born in Geldern, moved to Hamburg and now, you are living and working in London. How do you compare your London experience with the years you spent in your homeland? Why did you need to move there?

When I finished my degree in photography I wasn't very happy with my situation in Hamburg. The German market, though quite large, has a conservative tendency not because of the creatives, but I guess it's part of the German mentality to be careful.

What I like about London is that it's truly multicultural and here nobody gives a damn about good style, you can do what you want which also leads to a lot of ugliness but also creates outstanding, new things!

- It is thought that the rapid developments in the technology make people so busy that they are beginning to lose their abilities to think. Do you agree with this idea? What do you think are the reflections of these developments on the photography?

Of course it's a double edged sword. I learned photography with films and darkrooms which forced a certain, slower pace on you and taking a Polaroid meant to have to take a little break where you could think. With digital that dramatically changed, everything is instantly available, but doesn't that mean that you can reflect and think about it immediately?

If you shot on film you didn't really know what you were getting until you saw the contact sheets and this lack of instant feedback gave you the chance to be carried away in the shoot. These days I see a lot of photographers checking their display than communicating with the models.

For me that means I need to set my own pace. Over the years I leaned pretty well what is good for me and my work and I invented little routines that helped.

- Can you please tell us about your working habits? What kind of people do you like working with, both as your team members and clients?

In general I think I get the best out of a team if I really involve them and give them responsibility, I give them a proper briefing and then listen to they suggestions and most of the time I like their ideas, that's the reason why I've chosen them for the team. But of course I have to make sure that everything supports the concept, there's no room for personal extravagance.

For personal work I try to keep the team to an absolute minimum to keep the experience crisp and direct and I enjoy setting the light myself.

A job with an art director and clients is a completely different business, here it's a lot about communication and if I see that we're running into trouble or something won't work the way it's been planned I tell them, in the end you have to take the best image on that day!

- As an extremely talented and respected photographer just like you, one of our previous guest artists Eugenio Recuenco said "I use many things as inspiration, one of them are the classical paintings. They are dramatic, histrionic, and all the volumes they get with the use of the lighting." What is the source of your unique and spectacular style? What kind of things inspire you most?

To be honest I don't have a lot of resources, I don't look at a lot of photography or paintings. But if I have to name something then it's film and comic, especially the french comic, which is very dark and moody.

Of course I have my photographical influences, I always loved the surreality of the old Pink Floyd cover art work, but Juergen Teller was a real revelation when I started with photography!

- Another previous guest of Bak, famous photographer Quentin Shih believes that the trends and the standarts kill the creativity of photographers and that's a pity for all commercial photographers around the world. Do you agree with Mr. Shih? What kind of drawbacks does commercial photography have?

I agree to a certain extend, that's one of the reasons why (as mentioned above) I don't check out other photography that much, I almost feel it would contaminate my mind :)

The standards within commercial photography are very high now, a lot is brought to perfection in post-production, but I prefer to keep a bit of reality and grittiness in my images which even increases to contrast to my sometimes surreal concepts.

- On some of your outstanding compositions, you use digital tricks and they make the pieces beyond this world. People are flying, shoes are racing with others and some more fantastic pieces... Use your imagination and create a world named "Holger Poets". What would it look like, what would be on its flag and and what kind of people would live there?

You know what, I really like the world as it is, London is a big urban jungle and always surprises me again, I really wake up in the morning and I'm happy!

But one thing I would literally die for is going to space, experiencing zero G must be unimaginable. I would even join an expedition to a different solar system (lol)!

- Are you interested in cinema? What kind of movies and which directors do you find closer to yourself in terms of visual comprehension?

I love SciFi! I will love it the moment I see a spaceships!
But seriously, I watch all kind of movies, I have a very open taste and like movies when they are consistent. That's the reason why I can enjoy "Transformers" and much as "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest".

- If you had limitless budget, what kind of project would you create? This can be an exhibition whose venue is built by you, a worldwide photography education project, or something totally different. What would be your priority?

I'm not interested in something limitless, creativity originates in limitations. But one of my dream projects is a photo production on one of those parabolic flights, you know, the ones where astronauts train for zero G in a converted jumbo jet? Great!

- Theme of our current issue is "Red". What does this word mean to you? What would you feel if you were put into a room with four walls painted red?

Nothing, it's just a colour for me.