Like in all Robert Götzfried projects' he tries to move a bit off the grid. When he decided to do his trip through the southern states of the USA he knew from the start that he would be taking the back roads to see more of the country and to get to know the people.

I had several great chats and cold beers and in the end it was way more than just a photo trip - it got me to know a side of the country that only existed in my fantasy. I was stunned to see that it’s actually all real. I did almost the same trip two years in a row. The first time with my best friend who is not a photographer. It was almost painful for me not to be able to dedicate more time to taking photos. I saw so many great things, met so many nice people and the whole feel of the country ended up in an urge to go back a year later. I wanted to picture that feeling.
-Robert Götzfried

I don’t do any research about what other photographers did before. I’m sure lots of people have done something similar as me but my series are truly based on my personal need to create something and to picture it. When you look at my side project of that trip “people of the south” it becomes quiet clear that this series is based on my very personal experiences - every portrait comes with a short story of how I met a person and what the situation was like. Anyway, there are some photographers that I really do admire, though. Some of them are: Gregory Crewdson, Alexander Rodtschenko, Herlidne Koelbl and, Thomas Höpker for example.
-Robert Götzfried

I’m careful in giving advices. I mean who am I to judge someone’s work? I know, in a way that’s part of my job as an associate professor ... How I deal with it? I ask my students the questions that I have about their work and try to start a discussion about their creative projects. I had a professor who never told me what to do but always asked me the right questions so that I could figure out my own creative solutions for my projects.
-Robert Götzfried

I used a Canon 5Ds, a 16-35mm and, a 24-70 lens for this series.
-Robert Götzfried

About Robert Götzfried

Robert Götzfried was born and raised in Lindau, Germany near the Austrian and Swiss border. Before he got his diploma in communications design he did an apprenticeship as a typesetter and before that, he visited a school for printing technologies. Right now he's working as a senior designer and photographer in Munich, Germany and also as an associate professor for photography in Ravensburg, Germany at “Schule für Gestaltung”. See more of his works on Behance or his website.