 Papenbroock started his professional career as assistant photographer to renowned German photographer Christian von Alvensleben and acclaimed New York photographer and later commercial director Michael Somoroff.For a brief period Papenbroock himself worked as a photographer and then moved to New York City, to study film at the Tisch School of the Arts (New York University).At the same time he managed a commercial production studio in Manhattan, later becoming freelance camera assistant to top D.O.P.s like Howard Atherton, Allen Daviau, Ernest Day, Robert Fraisse or Geoffrey Wharton and then eventually began his own work as director/cameraman.