Successful premiere of Photopia Hamburg

An important step back to normality: From September 23 to 26, 2021, the imaging scene, amateur and professional photographers, manufacturers, service providers, distributors and photo retailers finally came together again at the premiere of Photopia Hamburg. Beyond the exhibition halls, the urban festival radiated across the whole City of Hamburg, Germany, with numerous events, exhibitions, workshops and photo walks. The great response in the social networks generated worldwide attention. The next Photopia Hamburg will take place from October 13 to 16, 2022.

 “What we have experienced here together with exhibitors and visitors was truly a feast for the eyes”, said Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe and Congress. ”The concept of celebrating a Festival of Imaging not only on the exhibition campus but across the entire city has made a strong impression on the industry, the City of Hamburg and certainly the visitors. Working together with our partners and the industry, we want to make Photopia Hamburg grow further. We are already looking forward to next year’s edition.”

The exhibitors in the exhibition halls included leading camera manufacturers such as Canon, Leica, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony, specialist suppliers such as Silverlab and Imaging Solutions, service providers such as Cewe, Tis Service and Whitewall as well as B2B and B2C trading companies, including Calumet, Enjoyyourcamera, Foto Erhardt, GroTura and Hapa team. International suppliers from China, Belgium, Finland and Poland were also represented.

The undisputed star among the ne product releases was the Canon EOS R3, which was presented to the public for the first time on the 600 square meters Canon stand. “We need a festival in Germany that is all about imaging,” commented Rainer Führes, CEO of Canon Germany.  ”We have definitely experienced a historic event here and we want to make Photopia the core meeting place for professional photographers and all others interested in Imaging. Hamburg is a great city where a lot of things happen. We were present at the inaugural event with a large footprint which we intend to grow further in future years.

There were also innovations for drone photography: for example, the manufacturer Autel Robotics presented its Dragonfish model to a wide audience in Europe for the first time. The technically advanced drone was developed for use in various areas such as traffic monitoring, flood and fire fighting as well as search and rescue missions.

Celebrities from professional photography and culture attracted a lot of attention: the festival’s patron was the famous fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who, like the photographer Kristian Schuller and the well-known British professional Jimmy Nelson, presented live at the fair and, like her colleagues, as well as numerous visitors, exhibitors and Congress participants shared her impressions of Photopia Hamburg on Instagram and other social networks. This digital journey is not over: On Photopia 365 the community can network, exchange ideas and present exclusive offers and workshops.

A professionally compiled mix of practical lectures, exhibitions and conferences also shaped the image of Photopia Hamburg. The Creative Content Conference organized by Profifoto and the BFF, for example, addressed content creators such as photographers and videographers from the professional and enthusiast sector with numerous presentations, workshops and discussions.

Business concepts, current trends as well as innovative product and marketing strategies were the focus of the B2B conference ImagingExecutives@Photopia on Friday, September 24. Under the title “Vital Opportunities”, the specialist media imaging+foto-contact and worldofphoto.com presented a top-class program on the latest opportunities and challenges in the imaging market. Numerous top executives from hardware and software suppliers, print service providers, retailers, distributors and other imaging companies took the opportunity to exchange ideas on this new platform.

The many photo exhibitions in the Hamburg exhibition center and throughout the city were very popular among the around 10,000 visitors to Photopia Hamburg. The innovative hall concept featuring an impressive arangement of 350 shipping containers was also well received: It was not only an homage to the Hanseatic City Hamburg and it’s harbour, but also created exciting perspectives for professional and hobby photographers. In the 800 square meters of he Photopia XR area, companies, universities and next.Reality Hamburg presented the innovative possibilities created by virtual and augmented reality.

Representatives of the around 50 domestic and foreign exhibitors were very satisfied with the new industry event: “ “These have been four powerful days at Photopia Hamburg ”, said Falk Friedrich, Managing Director at Leica Camera Deutschland GmbH. “We were thrilled by the atmosphere from the very first moment, especially seeing the impressive installation of shipping containers which are so typical of Hamburg. The response from our audience was great; photographers and enthusiasts approached us to get comprehensive information and advice. Photopia is a great festival for the industry, and it celebrated its highly successful debut at just the right time in a fantastic city with a rich photographic tradition.“

Frederik Lange, Business Head Digital Imaging Sony Germany, added: “Thank you very much, Photopia, for the courage to realize this successful, refreshing imaging event despite the continuing rules imposed by the pandemic. We truly enjoyed being part of this debut, presenting our latest products and innovative technologies on site, and sharing views and experiences with many artists as well as photo and video enthusiasts. We are looking forward to 2022.“

The German Photo and Imaging Industry Association (PIV) was one of the partners supporting the new event. “Photopia Hamburg has successfully demonstrated the importance of these community events for our industry as places of interaction between manufacturers, retailers, the media, and most importantly, the individual customers”, commented PIV Managing Director Christian Müller-Rieker. “We are glad to have been an active contributor as a partner to Hamburg Messe.“