Photo Live Magazine First Issue Photo live - cat's add in 2017 versioin | Page 108

CHRIS
MARQUARDT
If you’ve ever listened to a podcast
on photography you must have
heard about Tips from the Top Floor
with Chris Marquardt. He not only
produces and hosts the longest run-
ning photography podcast, but is an
author, photographer and tour lead-
er... let’s head over to Germany and
say hello...
Chris how did you get into photogra-
phy, when and who got you started?
I’ve always had an interest in vari-
ous art forms. I was lucky to be able
to get musical training for over 20
years and over time I learned to play
multiple instruments. Photography
also always fascinated, I had ac-
cess to our school darkroom and
got to experiment with light fairly
early on. Watching an image appear
out of nowhere in front of my eyes
108
was a really magical experience
and photography has been a pas-
sion ever since. Like many others,
I started out shooting mostly “from
the gut” without really understand-
ing what made some pictures work
better than others. Over time - and
especially thanks to my podcasts - I
started digging deeper and gradu-
ally learned how perception plays a
crucial role in photography and how
I could use that knowledge to create
better photography.
You do so many different things -
how did you get started as a pod-
caster?
In the early podcast days, around
2005, creating a new show wasn’t
as straight-forward as it is today. It
all came down to being at the right
spot at the right time. Thanks to my