Austrian Sneaker Photographer: Michael Kreyer

What’s your favorite sneaker to photograph?

There’s not really a favorite, I shoot whatever sneaker I like. A lot of them are special editions with special colors like the Converse which changes its color under UV (sun) light.

How did your passion for streetwear/sneaker photography develop?

When I started doing photography more seriously, I wanted to start photographing products, but because I have absolutely no clues about (for example) lipsticks or perfumes and all the other products seemed boring, I started shooting my own sneakers/shoes. Now I’m doing photography professionally and I shoot sneakers basically in my free time because then I can shoot what I want.

Sadly I live in a part of Austria with no real sneaker shops, no resellers, and not a lot of collectors. So every pair I want to shoot I have to buy myself, which continuously stops the flow of new shots. I’m currently trying to find customers who want my kind of photography for their company, so I can shoot more!

Name some of the sneakers in your current personal rotation

For daily use and work, I switch between a pair of black Vans Old Skools, a pair of Jordan 1’s (the one on my essentials picture), and a pair of basic white green Onitsuka Tigers. Mostly shoes I don’t care too much about, because during work/photographing outside I’m surely gonna destroy them…When I feel a bit more special and flashy, I mostly wear one of my Golf le Fleurs.

If you could only wear one pair of sneakers for the rest of your life, what would that be and why?

Well, that’s an easy one for me. Vans Old Skool Black allllllllllll the way. In my opinion, they just fit with every outfit (even suits!) which is perfect for work/photographing. They’re light, easy to clean, they look cool and you can easily replace them because they’re available everywhere.

I think I have Old Skools in my rotation for over 15 years now. I hope this answer is not too boring…

What is one sneaker collaboration that doesn’t exist, but you wish/think should exist?

As I have so much love for the Vans Old Skool I’d love to see Sean Wotherspoon’s take on them.

What are some of your favorite sneaker related content creators?

I have to be brutally honest…I don’t really have any. I follow some streetwear people, but not really someone who just does sneaker related content. The thing I look out for more are the “advertisement” photos of big companies, because that’s what I want to do. I’m not creating a lot of content with sneakers, I want them in the right setup, in the right light because I’m more into product photography.

Your dream hype sneaker you wish to acquire but don't have so far

If we talk about hype it would probably be the Nike Air Force Low x Off-White in white or the Sean Wotherspoon Air Max 97. As an all-time grail it would be the Nike Air Max 1 x Patta 5th Anniv. Green.

As a photographer, what are some of your daily essentials or treasured items?

As everyone nowadays, my main essentials sit in my pockets. A Phone, my keys, AirPods, and my wallet. For my daily life as a photographer, my essentials are my loved Leica SL2 with some lenses and batteries. I always have a color checker with me, to make sure the colors are right on a photo (it’s this color palette on the picture.)

In the studio, my camera mostly sits on my Gitzo Tripod, connected to my MacBook with an orange TetherTools Cable, some flash heads and transmitter from Profoto and for the retouching the Wacom graphic tablet. Of course, a lot of things change for different projects.

Where can people find you on social media?

You can find me on Instagram via @michaelkreyer or even better: check my website -> michaelkreyer.com

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