Cologne Startup Summer Night: Event Photography in Cologne

Where ideas meet people.

At a glance

For KölnBusiness, I covered Cologne Startup Summer Night at Cologne's Stadtgarten. The photographs combine familiar event subjects, such as arrivals and the sponsor wall, with speakers and spontaneous encounters within the startup community.

June 2026 · Arne Jansen

Updated on 28 October 2026

Client: KölnBusiness Economic Development
Project: Cologne Startup Summer Night
Category: Event Photography / Event Documentary
Location: Stadtgarten, Cologne
Use: Event communications, website, social media

The brief

Cologne Startup Summer Night brings the Rhineland's founders and startup community together on a summer evening. Founders, companies, investors and people from politics and business meet for speaker sessions, a Startup Village and, above all, plenty of space to exchange ideas and make new connections.

My brief was to document the evening photographically. Alongside the keynote speakers and official programme, we needed familiar event photographs: guests arriving, pictures at the sponsor wall and images documenting the setting.

Above all, the aim was to convey the atmosphere and create a versatile series for ongoing event communications.

My approach

I covered the event from the arrival of the first guests into the main programme, deliberately moving between its different aspects.

At the entrance and sponsor wall, I took planned photographs, then documented speakers and programme sessions from different perspectives. In between, my attention returned to the people: encounters, conversations, reactions and spontaneous moments that happen when a whole community comes together.

The result documents the important sessions and partners while conveying what Cologne Startup Summer Night is all about: people with ideas, starting conversations.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, portrait-format image in the green section.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 1, photograph 1.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 1, photograph 2.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 1, photograph 3.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 2, photograph 1.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 2, photograph 2.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, image group 2, photograph 3.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 1.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 2.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 3.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 4.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 5.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 6.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 7.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 8.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 9.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 10.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 11.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 12.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 13.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 14.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 15.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 16.

Cologne Startup Summer Night, a photograph from the series, gallery photograph 17.

The brief

My approach

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