René Staud was born in Stuttgart in 1951. It is precisely this light that fascinates him from an early age and leads him to photography at an early age. While still at school, he acquired the necessary know-how from numerous photo courses and at the age of twelve won his first awards and prizes in photo competitions. Then, at the age of fourteen, came the decisive moment: René Staud bought his first, self-earned SLR camera.
By selling souvenir and portrait photos, he soon set up his first black and white photo lab. After leaving school, René Staud completed an apprenticeship in a portrait and photo shop and also worked as a photo assistant and freelance photographer during his military service. The path to self-employment that followed is more of a coincidence:
A permanent position as a photographer is not in sight and so he starts with wedding and reportage shots, only to discover the area of product and advertising photography for himself with increasing awareness. He quickly recognized the need for professional studio productions and took up this development:
In 1975, René Staud opened his first studio in Stuttgart and the large studio in Wendlingen soon followed. His big breakthrough came in 1983 with the development of the Magicflash®, a lighting system specially designed for studio car photography.
This innovative surface light technology quickly becomes the benchmark in automotive photography. René Staud convinces the experts with his lighting concept and this helps him to get numerous orders from well-known manufacturers. The growing demand enabled him to open the large studio in Leonberg in 1986. With 50 years of experience, René Staud has outstanding expertise in all areas of advertising photography. This calls for a sophisticated photographic approach, state-of-the-art technology, perfect craftsmanship and a clear vision. Customers include many well-known car manufacturers whose international perception has had a significant influence on his pictures.
In 2016, René Staud's sons Patrick and Pascal took over the management together with the long-time authorized representative Dagmar Kraus-Stubenrauch and further expanded the digital production and formed the team with over 100 strategists, creative people, photographers, directors, CGI and Photoshop artists as well as digital - and VR_specialists to agency full service providers.
Since then, René Staud has devoted himself more to analogue projects, staging valuable collector's vehicles and developing image concepts with contemporary art, architecture and landscape. After the merger with the MediaMonks Group in January 2021, STAUD STUDIOS have remained loyal to the automotive industry, but now with 360 employees they also devote themselves to demanding customers who are dedicated to new forms of mobility. STAUD STUDIOS accompanies these customers from the consultation to the final product presentation.
