It started in the darkroom and a photo studio in Bocholt / Germany at the end of the 1990's. My task as apprentice was handling small, medium and large format cameras and studio lights for product and portrait photography. But before that I had to become a pro at ironing sheets, decorating fictive rooms, painting studio backgrounds and mixing barrels of developer. I was lucky to experience the transition from analogue to digital. I will never forget the nervous moment after my first wedding shoot to take a first look at the films, hoping that both the camera and the chemicals did their job. Clicking to apply a filter and waiting over my lunch break for an early Photoshop version to process is another priceless memory.
Later, when I studied Applied Cultural Sciences in Lüneburg, questions about how photography and digitalisation capture, create and bend realities were topics I wrapped my head around. While studying I was working for a travel picture agency and editorial department in Hamburg which brought me another view on photography. These years added a valuable theoretical and ethical background not only to my work but also to my way of communicating with customers.
My Master's degree in 2008 led me to project teamwork to survey and protect cultural landscapes in northern Germany. I used photography to document old archived maps and the historical artefacts we were chasing. Taking these patched maps into field brought an extra excitement (and often perplexity) to our expeditions. If Google maps had existed back then it would have robbed my colleagues and me of valuable lessons in discovering which paths are drivable without destroying a car.
Oslo called in 2011. Since then, I have been working for a big variety of customers - from architects and real estate companies to galleries, event agencies and municipalities. Since then, I have remained true to my line as a generalist who keeps looking for new horizons and content for his toolbox.
