Photothek Media Lab

What Photothek Media Lab does

Photothek Media Lab GmbH & Co. KG is a Berlin-based B2B professional services firm specializing in on-location photography, video production, and e-learning content. Founded in 2004 by Thomas Imo, Ute Grabowsky, and Thomas Köhler, the firm employs 17 people — 13 of them permanently — and explicitly operates without a studio, sending photographers and videographers directly to client sites, conferences, and international congresses.

The company's revenue is generated through professional-services engagements priced on a quote basis: portrait photography (business, political, and executive portraiture), event photography for conferences and galas, documentary photo reportage, on-location video production (image films, event films, social media content, video messages), and e-learning content production built on the Articulate Rise authoring platform. Deliverables are routed to clients through a Picdrop gallery with a real-time option for social media, and remote editing supports fast turnaround. The technology stack is conventional (Sony/Canon cameras, Picdrop, Google Analytics, Articulate Rise) — there is no proprietary software product, API, or AI component.

The go-to-market is enterprise field sales via direct relationships and reputation-led referrals. Customers are predominantly German federal ministries, the Bundestag, the Bundespresseamt, large corporations (Siemens, Deutsche Post), international organizations and NGOs (GIZ, WWF), and media/publishing (Die ZEIT, Vogue). The firm holds a particularly distinctive position in Berlin political photography, with standing relationships covering multiple chancellors, the federal president, and a roster of cabinet ministers. In 2024 the company restructured into Photothek Media Lab GmbH & Co. KG and added Hauke Pflüger as shareholder and Managing Director for Video and E-Learning, formalizing the expansion beyond still photography.

Name

Photothek Media Lab

Legal name

Photothek Media Lab GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://photothek.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Photothek Media Lab is a Berlin-based B2B photo and video agency providing on-location photography, video production, and e-learning content for German federal ministries, the Bundestag, large corporations like Siemens and Deutsche Post, NGOs such as WWF and GIZ, and media clients like Die ZEIT and Vogue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Photography Services

NAICS

Commercial Photography (541922), Motion Picture and Video Production (51211)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Photography & Photo Production (BPAFAIAF)

Keywords

• Professional photography services
• Event photography agency
• Corporate video production
• Portrait photography services
• E-learning content production

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Photography Services: Professional photography services including business portraits, event photography, portrait photography for politicians and executives, and photo reportages. Services provided on location without studio setup.
2. Video Production: Video production including image films (corporate videos), event films, social media videos, video messages, documentation, and animation films. Produced on location with fast delivery via remote editing.
3. E-Learning Content Production: Production of online courses, educational videos, workshops, and consulting for didactics and curriculum development. Custom e-learning content for internal corporate training.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Photothek Media Lab is a Berlin-based photo and video agency providing on-location professional photography, video production, and e-learning content creation for government, corporate, NGO, and media clients. Services include portrait photography, event photography, documentary photo reportages, image films, event films, social media videos, and custom online course production, all delivered exclusively on location by a permanently employed team of photographers and videographers.

Product overview

Photothek Media Lab is a Berlin-based photo and video agency offering a comprehensive suite of visual communication services. The company operates as a unified services platform rather than a software product company, with three core service pillars: photography (Portraitfotografie including business portraits and political leader portraits, Eventfotografie for conferences and corporate events, and Bildreportage for documentary and corporate storytelling), videography (Videoproduktion encompassing Imagefilme, Eventfilme, Social-Media-Videos, and Dokumentationen with on-location production and remote editing), and E-Learning (Produktion von Online-Kursen, Workshops, and Beratung using Articulate Rise authoring platform). The company also offers specialized services like Business Portrait Berlin for corporate headshots. All services are delivered by a team of ten in-house photographers and videographers, with no studio facilities—work is conducted exclusively on location.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Portrait Photography (Portraitfotografie) Professional portrait photography for executives, politicians, and public figures including business portraits, political leader portraits, and LinkedIn headshots. Delivered on location without studio settings.
• Event Photography (Eventfotografie) Professional event photography for conferences, congresses, galas, corporate events, and political gatherings. Includes real-time image delivery via Picdrop gallery and multi-photographer coverage for large events.
• Photo Reportage (Bildreportage)
• Video Production (Videoproduktion) Video production including image films (corporate videos), event films, social media videos, video messages, documentation films, and animation films. Produced on location with a remote edit workflow enabling fast delivery.
• E-Learning Content Production Production of custom online courses, educational videos, workshops, and consulting for didactics and curriculum development. Uses Articulate Rise authoring platform with courses hosted on client platforms.
• E-Learning Consulting (E-Learning Beratung) Advisory services for organizations on building online learning environments, creating effective curricula, and selecting successful online course formats and strategies.
• Photography & Video Workshops Professional training workshops on photography and video production using smartphones, writing skills, and course storytelling. Available online or in-person for corporate communication teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• 38256 shutter releases, 2400 delivered images over 3 days for Falling Walls conference

Named customers22 records

Segments5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Getty Images: Global photo and video content agency and distribution platform serving editorial, commercial, and corporate clients worldwide. Broader incumbent that overlaps with Photothek in commercial and event photography delivery, but at vastly greater scale and with a stock-distribution model.
• Markenfilm: One of Germany's largest commercial film and video production companies with corporate, advertising, and event coverage across German-speaking markets. Broad incumbent with overlapping on-location video production capabilities for corporate and institutional clients.

Direct peers

• laif: Hamburg-based photo agency representing editorial, documentary, and corporate photographers in German-speaking markets. Comparable to Photothek as a German professional photography services platform serving media, corporate, and institutional clients.
• imago: Berlin-based press photo agency covering news, sports, entertainment, and editorial photography with a large distributed contributor network. Comparable in delivering B2B event and editorial photography to German media and institutional customers.
• Ostkreuz: Berlin-based photo agency cooperative founded in 1990, covering news, editorial, documentary, and corporate photography across Germany. Most directly comparable peer given overlapping Berlin footprint, political/editorial clientele, and on-location professional photography model.
• action press: Hamburg-based celebrity, entertainment, and political photo agency covering events, red-carpet, sports, and governmental occasions in the German-speaking market. Direct peer given overlapping event-photography services for political and high-visibility German clients.
• VISUM: Hamburg-headquartered photo agency with deep editorial, news, and corporate photography coverage across Germany. Direct peer given similar German-market positioning, political/editorial client mix, and event/portrait production capabilities.

Regional players

• Anzenberger: Vienna-based Austrian photo agency focused on editorial, news, and corporate photography across the DACH region. Operates in a comparable DACH photography-services niche with overlapping editorial/political clientele but primarily serves the Austrian market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/photothek-media-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Photothek Media Lab