I Am A Berlin-Based Photographer, And Here Are Some Of The Craziest Portraits I’ve Done (20 Pics)

Berlin has a special talent: it makes “normal” feel a little suspicious. You can walk past a centuries-old museum, a techno club line, a street violinist, and a guy casually carrying a houseplant the size of a small carbefore lunch. So when people ask why my portraits get… weird, I blame the city. (Responsibly. With paperwork. And snacks.)

I’m a Berlin-based portrait photographer obsessed with creative portrait photographythe kind that turns a simple headshot into a tiny story. Sometimes it’s glamorous. Sometimes it’s surreal. Sometimes it looks like a film still from a movie that doesn’t exist. Below are 20 of the craziest portraits I’ve made, plus the behind-the-scenes thinking that keeps “crazy” from becoming “chaotic.”

What Makes a Portrait “Crazy” (In a Good Way)

A “crazy” portrait isn’t just props and neon. It’s a bold idea executed with control: intentional light, deliberate framing, and a clear emotional target. I’m usually chasing at least one of these:

• Visual surprise: color gels, projections, reflections, or perspective tricks.
• Story tension: elegance in an unexpected place, or calm inside visual chaos.
• Texture and mood: hard light shadows, misty atmosphere, gritty urban backdrops.
• “How did they do that?” practical in-camera effects before heavy editing.

The Tools That Help Me Go Off-Script Without Losing the Plot

Lens choices that keep faces flattering (even when everything else is unhinged)

When I’m doing something visually loudlike a projected subway map on someone’s faceI keep the lens choice simple. A normal-to-short-telephoto look helps faces stay natural, while wider lenses can exaggerate features if you get too close. When I do go wide, it’s on purpose, and I warn my subject: “This is a collaboration with gravity and comedy.”

Lighting tricks: gels, hard light, and “beautiful accidents”

I rotate between two moods: soft light for gentle, cinematic portraits, and hard light for graphic, editorial punch. When I want instant drama, I’ll add colored gels or a clean rim light. When I want chaos-with-a-seatbelt, I mix practical lights (neon, street lamps, LEDs) with flash so the scene still looks believable.

Safety, consent, and the boring stuff that makes the fun stuff possible

Wild portraits still require trust. I talk the concept through, explain the plan, and check comfort levels before we start. If a photo could be used commercially, I handle a release in advance. If we’re shooting in public, I keep it respectful: no “gotcha” camera behavior, no turning strangers into background props without care. Creativity is cool. Being decent is cooler.

20 Craziest Portraits I’ve Done (With the Story Behind Each One)

Pic #1: “U-Bahn Cartography Face”

I projected a Berlin transit map across my subject’s face and hands, then lined the station names with their gaze. The trick was lowering ambient light and keeping the projector sharp where I wanted detailso the face didn’t become a blurry geography quiz.

Pic #2: “Two-Color Split Personality”

Classic split lighting, but with opposing gel colorsone side warm, the other icy. It’s a fast way to make a portrait feel like a poster. The key is keeping the colors from contaminating each other: distance and careful feathering save the day.

Pic #3: “The Prism Portal”

A small glass prism near the lens created twin reflections and streaks of lightlike my subject was stepping through a sci-fi doorway. I kept one eye crisp in focus, so the distortion felt artistic instead of accidental.

Pic #4: “Neon Rain Without Rain”

No storm required: I used a spray bottle for tiny highlights and shot toward a bright sign to catch glittering droplets. Backlight plus patience equals “weather” on demand. (My camera did not enjoy this as much as I did.)

Pic #5: “Hard Light Fashion Villain”

Bare, punchy light and deep shadows turned a clean face into a graphic design. Hard light gets a bad reputation, but when the angle is right, it’s insanely flatteringjust in a bold, editorial way.

Pic #6: “Smoke, But Make It Elegant”

A haze effect transformed a plain studio corner into a moody stage. I backlit the smoke so it glowed, then kept the face lit softly from the front. The lesson: atmosphere is a character, not just decoration.

Pic #7: “The Mirror Shard Crown”

Tiny mirror pieces (safely secured and not sharpbecause we like eyebrows where they are) created fractured highlights around the head. The portrait looked like a glamorous glitch. I positioned lights carefully to avoid hot spots.

Pic #8: “Long Exposure Ghost Steps”

I shot a long exposure on a tripod while my subject moved, then froze them at the end with a flash pop. It made a “double life” effectmotion trails behind a sharp final pose. Timing was everything.

Pic #9: “Holographic Film Halo”

A sheet of holographic foil near the lens created rainbow flares that wrapped the frame. It’s messy in the best way: move the film a centimeter, the whole image changes. We took ten variations and kept the most magical accident.

Pic #10: “Kaleidoscope Eyes”

A kaleidoscope-style lens effect turned one face into a repeating pattern, but I kept the center aligned on the eyes so it still felt human. If the eyes drift, the portrait becomes wallpaperpretty, but not personal.

Pic #11: “Window-Blind Shadow Drama”

Classic stripes across the face, but with a twist: I angled the shadows diagonally for tension. It’s simple, cheap, and looks like a movie. The trick is placing the subject so the shadows land exactly where you want them.

Pic #12: “Wide Lens Comedy Close-Up”

I went wide and close for an intentionally exaggerated, playful lookbig foreground, tiny background, maximum personality. I only do this when the vibe is fun and the subject is into it, because it’s honest-to-goodness distortion.

Pic #13: “Red Room, Blue Face”

I lit the room with warm practical light, then hit the face with a cool gelled flash. The contrast felt like two realities colliding. It’s a great technique when you want the environment to feel alive, not studio-flat.

Pic #14: “Projector Patterns: Botanical Overload”

I projected high-contrast leaf patterns, then posed hands to “frame” the face like living sculpture. It reads surreal but still elegant. Pro tip: keep the pattern simple; too much detail turns into visual noise fast.

Pic #15: “The Floating Fabric Tornado”

Fabric plus wind equals instant movement. I used a fan off-camera and had an assistant lift the cloth for shape. The subject stayed still, the fabric dancedso the face became the calm center of a stylish storm.

Pic #16: “Reflections in a Phone Screen”

A phone screen became a tiny mirror. I captured the subject’s face reflected inside the device while their real face was slightly out of focuslike identity inside identity. Small props can make big concepts.

Pic #17: “Confetti Explosion (Controlled Chaos)”

Confetti gives you energy without risky powders or messy cleanup drama. We tossed it upward and shot at the peak, then did a few slow-shutter frames for motion streaks. The result: celebration and chaos in the same breath.

Pic #18: “The ‘Museum Painting’ Portrait”

I shaped light like a Renaissance paintingsoft falloff, gentle shadows, and a dark background. Then I added a modern twist: one bold color accent, like a contemporary fashion editorial sneaking into an old canvas.

Pic #19: “Rim-Light Silhouette With Neon Edges”

I underexposed the scene and relied on a bright rim light to carve the subject out of the background. It created a clean outlinealmost graphic. This works especially well with interesting hair, jackets, or sculptural shapes.

Pic #20: “The 85mm ‘Dream Bokeh’ Close”

When the concept is wild, I sometimes end on a classic: a flattering portrait with creamy background blur. I shot wide open, kept focus on the nearest eye, and let Berlin’s lights melt into soft bokehsimple, cinematic, and timeless.

How to Shoot “Crazy Portraits” Without Regretting Everything

• Start with one weird ingredient: one gel, one projection, one reflectionthen build.
• Keep the face readable: protect the eyes and preserve a clean focal point.
• Use a tripod for experiments: it’s the difference between “art” and “why is this blurry?”
• Respect people and places: get consent, don’t block pathways, and keep shoots calm and courteous.
• Don’t “fix it in post” as a plan: editing should polish the idea, not invent it from scratch.

Extra: of Real-World Lessons From Shooting the Weird in Berlin

The funniest thing about making “crazy portraits” is how often the final image comes from something that went slightly wrongjust not dangerously wrong. Early on, I tried to control everything: the light, the pose, the background, the mood, the exact millimeter where a prism flare should land. Berlin cured me of that. This city is too alive for perfection. Trains arrive when they feel like it. Weather changes its mind mid-sentence. Someone in the background will absolutely appear wearing a jacket that looks like a disco ball. So I learned to plan carefully, then stay flexible on purpose.

My most reliable routine now is “structure plus play.” Structure means I show up with a concept, a shot list, a simple lighting plan, and a backup option if the location is too crowded or the light collapses into gray gloom. Play means I also leave room for five minutes of experimenting every set: moving the gel farther from the flash, tilting the prism a little more, rotating the projector pattern, or asking the subject to try a pose that feels slightly theatrical. Most of those experiments are duds. One is usually gold. And that one frame becomes the reason the series feels alive.

The biggest practical lesson: the subject’s comfort is the real “secret lighting modifier.” If someone feels awkward, the portrait looks like a rehearsal. If they feel safe and understood, the portrait looks like a moment. Before the camera comes up, I explain what we’re making and why. I show references, describe the vibe in plain language, and check boundariesespecially with bold styling, unusual angles, or high-energy setups like confetti. I also keep direction simple: “chin slightly down, eyes to the light, breathe, hold.” People relax when the instructions are clear and not delivered like a complicated math problem.

Berlin also taught me to use the city as texture rather than a postcard. The best backdrops aren’t always the famous ones; they’re the corners with character: rough walls, industrial lines, soft window light in a stairwell, neon reflections in a rainy street. When the environment has strong visual identity, I don’t need ten props. One clever techniquelike a gelled rim light or a projected patterncan do the storytelling. That’s how I keep “crazy” from becoming cluttered.

Finally, I’ve learned that a portrait can be surreal and still respectful. I can bend light, distort reflections, and paint the frame with colorwithout turning a person into a gimmick. The goal is never “look what I can do.” The goal is “look who this person becomes in this scene.” When that clicks, the portrait feels unforgettable… and the behind-the-scenes chaos becomes a funny footnote instead of the main event.

Conclusion

The craziest portraits aren’t about randomnessthey’re about intention with a sense of humor. Whether you’re using gels, prisms, hard light shadows, or long exposure tricks, the goal is the same: make the viewer feel something and wonder how you pulled it off. Berlin gives me the raw material; the camera turns it into a story.