You’ve worked together successfully for over ten years – How do you usually go about doing portraits?

Working as a team is very important. It’s much better to view the pictures with more than one pair of eyes. We’ll take 100 and 200 shots for each motif. Then we cull them until only about five or six shots are left. We shared this assignment, but at the end we both look at it together and are open to being convinced by the other, for instance that while a broadly smiling young woman may look very good, she appears much more interesting with a quizzical look. We’re a good team and have great trust in each other.

Was shooting the photos of the 27 Europeans for the EU Panorama a special assignment for you?

We were delighted at being asked to take the photographs for this beautiful idea. We spent days on end preparing for it, to develop the right “look” for the assignment, as we say in our industry. But when the people were there, in person, all our thoughts suddenly disappeared, because in fact you have to deal with a very broad spectrum of different types.

The important thing was to strike up conversations – during the shooting or while the people were being made up. That worked fine in many languages, but we had interpreters on site, too. Some of the people were a bit worried about the pictures. We wanted to let them know that we understand. Depending on the situation, you either have to encourage people to relax or build up some positive tension. Mutual trust is the most important thing in that sort of situation.

How do you deal with so many different personalities and mentalities?

They came into our studio one by one. Some of them were so shy, we were amazed that they had even agreed to this project. In other cases, it made perfect sense: They love the attention, thrive on it – but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are easier to photograph. People like that have a mask they like to present to the world, but it might not be what you want to see. People are so different; you have to approach each one as an individual, sometimes even be cheeky with them, provoke them a bit. It’s like a game sometimes.

What does it mean to you to see your photographs exhibited in this setting, in this environment and on this occasion?

It’s a very special feeling. We mainly shoot pictures for magazines, which is often very nice, but can sometimes be quite trivial. You get used to it over time. This walkable presentation, featuring these enormous close-ups, was a fascinating assignment for us. When we learned the details of the plan we got very excited about it – you could safely say we were completely over the moon.

Was does Europe mean for you?

People are the most important thing about Europe – that’s one thing I quickly realised doing this project: any clichés one might have held crumble in a hurry. It becomes so clear how hackneyed our views of a given country and its people are. That’s why this sort of contact is so important – and Europe is what makes it possible. You get to know the full range of its diversity. A beautiful, temperamental lady from Estonia who works in tourism; a fashion photographer from Bulgaria for whom the end of the Cold War meant freedom to travel and succeed at his chosen profession; a young woman from Luxembourg who speaks seven languages and looks like she’s from Portugal, or Mr. Bielenberg who has a German name but comes from Ireland. The latter two probably have an accordingly interesting ancestry. Europe needs to be seen as a whole. The divisions are becoming more and more blurred.