By Max Leitner, Photographer and urban explorer

There are not many places where you can touch the crispness of an unfolding summer’s day as intensely as in Stuttgart. You want to be up early. Really early. In those twilight hours just before sunrise, it will just be you, a yet-to-be-discovered new route, a camera to capture the unseen and your motorcycle to take you anywhere inspiration leads you. Nobody to get in your way and obscure those incredible, undisturbed urban perspectives. Nobody to rob you of a special moment that you know will never be repeated.

A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

“There’s a distinction between alone and lonely “, Max Leitner says. He is alone in those moments when he steps out and captures the world in a way that nobody has ever seen before. Whether in Chicago, Shanghai, Rotterdam, Macao, Shenzen or one of many other cities across the globe. Max has travelled around the world, stepping fearlessly out of top floor windows of very tall buildings, capturing the architectural and natural beauty of unexpected shapes and lines as they unite in uniquely defined angles and moments. “I have always been a driven urban explorer, never waiting to see if someone wanted to follow.“

How do you become a modern pioneer in a world where men can conveniently travel nearly anywhere they want, and where satellites document the formerly unknown from outer space? Stuttgart is a place of rich heritage, incredible light and an icon of German engineering, innovation and design. So, what does this town, where Max Leitner was born 26 years ago, have to do with it all?

We meet up with Max at his favourite time of the day in the early hours of the morning, It is a particularly rough area with small factory buildings, railway tracks that abruptly end here, and trains that wait to be repaired. A somehow cool industrial landscape, standing as a sharp contrast to the lush green of the wooded hills and vineyards that surround Stuttgart. Max rides up a loading ramp to get a better perspective, noticeably enjoying the nimbleness of his Svartpilen 401.

“I love the raw and exposed authenticity of the design as much as the thrilling contrast of its smooth riding feel“, Max admits. He still remembers the early thrill this rugged area in the city’s industrial North gave him when he first rode past it on his mountain bike at the age of 11. “The area evokes an emotion, I connect to my first exploratory memories here.“

Near the famous Stuttgart City Library, which was designed by the notable Yi architects, lies an abandoned stretch of urban landscape, covered in gravel and wisps of grass. A remarkably rugged piece of land that is contrasted by being set behind an elegantly styled shopping mall called Milaneo. Max has chosen this spot to have some fun on the bike. As a backdrop to the decayed urban setting, the library stands - a futuristic monolith, whose facade incorporates countless glass blocks, inviting light into the floating architectural lines. Its heart and core seemingly inspired by the great heritage of an ancient pantheon.

This area around Mailänder Platz, where the old rail freight station once stood, seems in constant transition from past to future. It is an important impulse generator for an ever-unfolding future that is yet to be defined. Nobody knows how long the urban wilderness of this starkly contrasted gravel field will survive.

“I like it when I am alone, just enjoying the loose ground. It makes me understand how the bike reacts. If you have a gravel surface detached from public streets, you can deliberately lose traction and still be safe.” He is very aware of his boundaries and while always wanting to explore new possibilities, he will never endanger himself or others. That is a rule Max Leitner says he will never break.

A Time To Reflect

Later, Max will stop by at Hillson’s, a cool hybrid bar-venue-shop for Moto Culture that has just opened in Heusteigviertel. He will no doubt share a drink with Philipp, a tall, hip and bearded gentleman who is a driving force in the creative circle of bar owners.

It’s the perfect time for Max to share ideas he has for his next exhibition with Philipp; relaying tales of his friend Brian at the edge of Death Valley, recounting his friend Jennifer exploring the top of a high rise at dawn in Shanghai, remembering a lofty late-night excursion at the famous Louvre in Paris, and then there was Lisbon, Chicago, the whole lot. His considered selection of the many possible astounding photographic masterpieces reveals the incomparable vision of a true urban trailblazer.

How did Philipp and Max first meet? Max’s SVARTPILEN first grabbed Philipp’s attention somewhere in town and he was instantly fascinated. They got talking, much like they will do later. But, for now, Max is off to another location check. Up the stairs and out the window. Scouting for a new unseen angle for his next shoot somewhere in the heart of Stuttgart. Exactly where? Max’s story and journey of discovery is one that is still forming, ever-evolving and which hopefully, will never end.