ALSTER MAGAZIN: This is the first time you're showing your work together. Does it feel good, or is it not something special for you?

Moritz: Yes, it is definitely something special.

Armin: When you share everything in life—your business, your private life, your bed, and the same passion—art—then at some point, it all works out. We certainly would never have exhibited together if we were both photographers.

I'm not a fan of group exhibitions, even though my works have hung with photographers like Peter Lindberg in Moscow and Vienna.

The frame has to fit, the works have to work together. FC Gundlach once said, "A good picture has to fill the room without the need for furniture." If you look at the pictures here in the gallery, you'll see that it will work with any of them. And Moritz's Lego sculptures go well with every picture, and this is the exciting thing. The two even complement each other perfectly on a wall. Probably because our works are essentially created together. When Moritz is doing something, he asks me; when I'm thinking about concepts, I get his advice. It's a partnership between us, and that makes it all the more wonderful to have the exhibition together now.

So you support each other...

Armin: Very much so. My visions always need a second dimension.

I've relied on Moritz for years to help me realize my art. For example, if I needed a 1x1.5 meter cardboard box for a shoot, he made it perfectly. From that, my own creative ideas gradually emerged. I encouraged Moritz and noticed how creative he is.

Especially with his Lego stuff. I was very skeptical at first, but when I saw how good his work turned out, I was absolutely thrilled.

Moritz: Armin is my harshest critic, a very constructive one. That helped me develop. I basically started with art by preparing things for shoots, which I still do, but now I've built my own repertoire around it.

You also created a bronze sculpture using Lego bricks. Is that the first one?

Moritz: Yes, it's a further development of my work. When people think of Lego artists, they often think of someone who builds 3D things – like in Legoland. I don't do that. The result is always a relief that appears more in 2D format.

So I came up with the idea of ​​creating a different element with a bronze. The result is fantastic; the sculpture looks as if it were assembled from small individual bronze pieces, as every detail, every stone, is delicately defined. Because I like it so much, I'm continuing with it. A second bronze is already in the casting process.

Alster Magazine: How did the sculpture come about?

Moritz: I built a blank out of Lego bricks. Basically, exactly what's there. Then a mold was cast, and the bronze was cast using lost-wax molding.

Illusion by Armin Morbach, who made his way from hairdresser to important contemporary photographer thanks in part to the support of FC Gundlach, who sponsored him.

Armin: The result is perfect. I like the back best. But also the surface. Moritz treated it himself and fired it again, which is really exciting. It fits perfectly with Moritz and his work.

Moritz: The material is really exciting, especially since the color of bronze, for example, doesn't change unless you polish the surface. Art is usually fragile and should be handled with care – not bronze. You can even put it on a pedestal in the garden, and in 10 years it will still look like the first day. I think that's great.

Speaking of time. Armin, I read that you're fascinated by FC Gundlach's 1960s photographs—does that reflect your images?

Armin: Absolutely. When FC called me back then and said he'd like to meet you, I had no idea what would happen. When he then told me, "You're the continuation of my work," I was a bit shocked. But it's true, who still takes classic photographs these days—and I don't mean that in a bad way—lighting, hair, makeup, and that's it—nothing more. I do very classic fashion photography, in the same style that FC Gundlach started with.

Moritz: You even recreated his pictures with him once.

Armin: In 2017, I had a campaign for Schwarzkopf, and FC suggested he'd pick up the camera with me again. So we went to Berlin and re-photographed his subjects at the original locations. He even remembered the exact camera positions. He was strict; there were no arguments, even though I was already 40 at the time and no longer a youngster. Yes, no, yes, no, wrong hair, wrong makeup... But I learned from it with awe and am incredibly grateful for this unique opportunity to work so intensively with FC.