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The decisive moment. Sports photographs by Lukas Schulze

FromHolger Rüdel Updated on Reading time: 3 Minutes
July 26, 2017: An athlete from Team Greece is thrown out of the water during the synchronized swimming team competition at the FINA World Championships in Budapest. Photo: Lukas Schulze / FINA / Nikon
July 26, 2017: An athlete from Team Greece is thrown out of the water during the synchronized swimming team competition at the FINA World Championships in Budapest. Photo: Lukas Schulze / FINA / Nikon

Luke Schulze is one of the most creative and talented young sports photographers in Germany – and now one of the most famous. Admittedly, I hadn't heard of him until two years ago. An article in Nikon magazine, published in September 2017, made me sit up and take notice: “Dive into the world of sports photographer Lukas Schulze”. I became curious. And I was quickly convinced that we could see Lukas Schulze's work in the nos.PHOTOMENTA should present.

I am pleased that this project idea could be implemented in such a short time. The exhibition “The Decisive Moment. Sports photographs by Lukas Schulze” starts on November 27th, 2019 in the nos.FOTOMENTA Flensburg and runs until February 27th, 2020. 

November 16, 2018: Football freestyler Mo Jamal plays with the ball on the Halde Norddeutschland in North Rhine-Westphalia and can be seen as a silhouette in the artwork “Hallenhaus”. "This photo needed the perfect sky. After the sun had set and the blue hour began, I positioned Mo in the house, combining the architecture with the sport." Photo: Lukas Schulze
November 16, 2018: Football freestyler Mo Jamal plays with the ball on the Halde Norddeutschland in North Rhine-Westphalia and can be seen as a silhouette in the artwork “Hallenhaus”. “This photo needed the perfect sky. After the sun had set and the blue hour began, I positioned Mo in the house and thus combined the architecture with the sport." Photo: Lukas Schulze

Sports photography as art

What makes Lukas Schulze's work stand out from the multitude of other sports photographs? His aim is to capture images that the viewer does not expect. With extreme perspectives and extraordinary focal lengths, he tries to stand out from the masses of his colleagues and wants to show that sports photography can also be art. 

His creative play with sharpness and blurriness is of particular importance. “Many photographers criticize taking photos with an open aperture because too little information is conveyed to the viewer due to the blur in the background,” he explained in an interview with Nikon magazine. “I have to admit that I really enjoy taking photos with the aperture wide open. I like it when the blur allows you to focus on the important parts of the image.”

“The biggest challenge for me at the World Swimming Championships was diving” (Lukas Schulze)

Perhaps the most impressive series of images in his career to date came from Lukas Schulze at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest in 2017, when he photographed high diving for six days. With ingenuity and special recording technology, he condensed the sporting moment with the city skyline into a highly artistic composition that leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. 

July 28, 2017: Adriana Jimenez of Mexico jumps into the pool in high diving at the FINA World Championships. The distance to the Budapest Parliament in the background is about 550 meters as the crow flies. Photo: Lukas Schulze / FINA / Nikon
July 28, 2017: Adriana Jimenez of Mexico jumps into the pool in high diving at the FINA World Championships. The distance to the Budapest Parliament in the background is about 550 meters as the crow flies. Photo: Lukas Schulze / FINA / Nikon

“The dream of many sports photographers is that their own images will be immediately recognized by editors, art directors and customers and can be assigned,” writes sports photographer Matthias Hangst in the exhibition catalog.

Lukas Schulze is becoming increasingly successful in developing his own photographic signature. His high diving series in Budapest in 2017 was a milestone.

Exhibition dates

November 27th to February 27th, 2020

nos.FOTOMENTA in the Nospa financial market Flensburg
Südergraben 8–14
24937 Flensburg

Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Free entry.

Accompanying the exhibition is a catalog in the PHOTOGRAPHIA BOREALIS series of the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein (No. 18) with texts by, among others, Göttrik Wewer (DFB-Kulturstiftung) and Matthias Hangst. The publication is sponsored by Nikon.

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