MY STORY
I grew up on the edge of an industrial region in Hagen, Germany. Ever since I can remember I wanted to get away from the grey monotony and grime of the industrial landscape. It was not easy growing up there and taking up martial arts was a form of salvation. In hindsight, this period of my life was critical in sparking my love of photography.
While I was hammering a punching bag at a Muay Thai camp in the back blocks of Bangkok, I began working on film projects. This led to a job at a television production company in Cologne. After that I got a position as manager of a luxury hotel near Budapest; in order to bolster my situation I enrolled at a German long-distance university and studied economics simultaneously. A year later, while exploring the possibility of opening my own luxury hotel, my passport was stolen in Nicaragua. Despite my bad luck, there was a silver lining: I rethought my travel plans and ended up on an anarchic yacht in the Caribbean. This trip became the catalyst for deciding to dedicate my life to the arts. Since then, I have woken up every morning with a smile on my face.
Travel sheds light on what holds the world together and, for me, photography has been an integral part of that experience. At first I sought out the poorest and most culturally different places. Instead of photographing misery and suffering, I focused on the human dignity, cultural diversity and natural beauty around me. Now based in Berlin my goal is to promote intercultural understanding, tolerance and the need for environmental protection. I would like to think that my efforts can encourage others to think differently.
When I started out, I used photography as a travel diary. These personal journals became the basis for sharing my stories through exhibitions, newspaper and magazine articles as well as in books. Perhaps the absence of formal photography training helped me to maintain an open mind. I have never seen myself solely as a photographer nor do I fit into a neat category. I am an artist, a traveller and a documentarian. I am also an entrepreneur, having participated in start-ups, and organised events and shows. This amalgam of background and experience has given me a special insight into portraying subjects and expressing my inner vision.
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