Gerald Kapounek.

Born in Vienna in 1967, an IT consultant by profession and co-founder of ITdesign — and in photography, as in most things that interest me, self-taught. My other passions: wine lover, travel junkie, home-automation enthusiast, bon vivant, grandfather ;)

Photography has been with me for as long as I can remember. It began with landscape and travel photography; at some point my focus shifted to portraiture — and since then I've explored almost every facet of it. Today my focus lies on beauty portraits and fashion; since early 2021 I've also held the trade licence for it, alongside my main profession.

What matters to me in an image has crystallised over the years: whoever is in the picture should recognise themselves in it. For me it's less about perfection than about honesty, authenticity, emotion and “the moment”. For the same reason I always do the retouching myself — and stop precisely where the image would begin to leave the person behind.

I shoot in studios in and around Vienna, and just as happily on location or outdoors. And I work with a select group of make-up artists, designers and models — people with whom the mood on set is right. The effort and the level follow what the image asks for, not what would be easiest to pull off.

If you have an idea — or simply want to know whether it's doable — write to me.