Staging and Play

My photography combines technical precision with experimental approaches to create visual and introspective narratives. Unlike most photographers who capture moments in fractions of a second, I construct my images slowly. Through long exposures, mostly at night, and the interplay of natural and artificial light, I shape scenes with a distinctly surreal quality.

Each of my images unites careful planning with a free, experimental approach. This way of working dissolves the boundary between Staging and Play, deliberately leaving room for the unforeseen. The pursuit of a perfect image in the classical sense holds no interest for me.

Before the shoot, I settle on an idea and conceive a composition, sometimes accompanied by a sketch. When I think I have the image I wanted, I usually start to experiment. Sometimes with the lights and lamps, sometimes the setting or the camera angle, and sometimes just something completely different. This not only helps me stay fresh and surprise myself, but also broadens the scope and lets play take an important role in the creative process.

What matters to me is the immediate, physical connection between light, space, time and subject. My images exist in the tension between precision and spontaneity, inviting the viewer to understand light not merely as illumination, but as a sculptural, narrative force.

Tech Stack

I use digital and analog cameras on tripods, triggered with external releases in bulb mode, and have built or modified my own lamps to get the colours I want. Artificial light is applied manually, alongside natural light.

Most of my lamps are mounted on telescopic poles, and I move through the frame myself, staying close to the subject. I make sure not to leave any trace of myself in the image.

For objects too large or too awkward to reach that way, I use highly focused, handheld lamps instead. These let me shape the light precisely on a surface even when I have to work from further away.

People often ask whether this is light painting. It isn't. No trails or shapes are drawn toward the lens. Each surface is lit individually, at close range, the way a sculptor shapes a form rather than the way a painter applies colour to a canvas. An image is built up gradually, pass by pass, over exposures that usually run two to 25 minutes, sometimes as long as two hours.

What you see is what was captured in camera. My photos are not created through digital effects.

Developed by Hand, not by Algorithm

I use Adobe RAW to develop the digital negatives and Photoshop to stack, mask, retouch or manipulate the images, just like you would in a traditional analog darkroom. This way of editing is something I learned to love and master in the nineties, while studying in the UK.

I refrain entirely from AI creation or AI manipulation.

What Is Real? What Is Human?

At a time when the boundaries between authentic human action and Artificial Intelligence are becoming increasingly blurred, urgent questions arise.

What is still made by human hands? What is genuinely authentic? And by what criteria are we even able to judge this anymore?

We must find and walk paths that AI cannot follow. Performance and play may be the last bastions that remain reserved for human beings. Homo sapiens may soon have run its course as a model, perhaps Homo ludens, the playing human, is the more fitting approach for our time.

Authenticity

In play, it is possible to cross boundaries through seemingly irrational, ostensibly unpredictable behaviour and to suspend the assumed rules of logic. The authenticity of a work can be established through witnessing what happens on site or by actively participating in it. Human action is, regardless of any judgement of its content, immediately real and authentic.

Side Effects and Physical Commitment

This kind of photography challenges me both mentally and physically. Every image carries its own, often invisible story of how it came to be. As an athlete who has been active as a professional disc golfer for 15 years, and as a designer working independently since 1999, endurance, visual precision and a deep understanding of space, trajectories and movement flow organically into my work.

I often stand, walk, climb, crouch or hold a position for extended periods of time. Temperatures range from bitterly cold to uncomfortably hot, while wind and weather add further layers of difficulty to the process. Working outdoors at night brings unpredictable encounters like curious passers-by, sometimes very strange characters, attentive animals and constant companions such as mosquitoes or ticks. All of these elements are inseparable from the process and make the creation of these images an intense, unforgettable experience.

About me

I'm a photographer and designer based in Berlin. With more than 25 years of experience in the design industry, a background in professional Disc Golf, and as a musician, I bring together design expertise, creative range, and physical dedication in my work.