The Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team and the renowned photographer Paul Ripke are offering three social media photographers a unique opportunity this season.
Competition starts with a three-day crash course at Paul Ripke’s ripkedemy in Los Angeles
Finalists go behind the scenes to produce video and photo material from the DTM race weekends
The winner goes forward to become the official Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Social Media Photographer for 2018
In the context of its preparations for the 2017 campaign, the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team has got together with renowned photographer Paul Ripke to organise a Europe-wide photography competition, the finalists of which will be in action during the DTM weekends this season.
439 photographers responded to a video invitation from Paul Ripke and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. The best three of these will now attend a crash course at Paul Ripke’s photo academy in California from 1st to 3rd May, i.e. during the week leading up to the DTM season opener at Hockenheim. Before they get to wield a camera on the race weekends, they will be equipped with the tools of the trade by Ripke, who will continue to mentor them during the season.
Each of the finalists will cover one DTM race in Germany plus one race in another country, their task being to create video and photo material at the racetrack. At the same time, the images they share will provide fans with exclusive insights into what goes on behind the scenes. They will capture the team spirit and the sense of solidarity on the race weekends and allow the fans to identify even more closely with the team.
On the final weekend of the season at Hockenheim, a panel of judges will select the overall winner as official Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Social Media Photographer for 2018. The prize also includes a trip to a Formula One Grand Prix with Paul and a joint exhibition of their photos with him.
About Paul Ripke
Paul’s passion for photography began early in life when he borrowed his father’s cameras. He soon graduated to his own first camera, putting it to use photographing his friends skateboarding, football matches and Germany’s hip hop scene.
Paul rose to prominence in 2014, when he photographed the victorious German national football squad – Die Mannschaft – as they beat Argentina in Rio’s historic Maracana, joining the victorious team in their celebrations on the pitch and as they climbed the steps to lift the Jules Rimet trophy for the fourth time.
Paul got his first taste of motorsport in 2016 when he was invited to document Nico Rosberg’s 2016 Formula One campaign. Little did he know then that his pictures would go on to form the basis of the book ‘Finally’ – a visual journal of the emotional final months of Nico’s championship winning year.
Paul is at his best when he gets up-close and personal with the subject. His intense behind-the-scenes shots tell a visual story of the human side of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
