I have to admit, I’m not that good at drawing artistic, photo realistic drawings. I don’t have those fine hands needed for those kinds of art forms. But I’m able to freeze a certain moment at a certain place at a certain time by pressing the button of my reflex camera. By doing that, art is always happening in front of me. I only have to capture it in my own way. I see that as a huge potential. It’s my ability to show my view of the world to others. I can express feelings and emotions through pictures by playing with the lighting, colors and composition that would otherwise be lost. Complex emotions that are recalled in detail when you see that exact same picture years later.

Photography is absolutely not about having the most expensive gear. Being in the right place at the right time is more crucial than anything else. Even a simple smartphone camera can be sufficient enough to freeze the moment in a certain way you wanted to do. I myself own a Canon 600D combined with the 35mm and 50mm prime lenses.

Most of my photographs are in black and white. People often say that using black and white is a easy way to bring otherwise not so great pictures to another level. I don’t see it that way. Black and white gives you the ability to put the focus where you exactly want it to be. Colors are often a distraction for the eye leading to a misinterpretation of the picture. All the focus goes to the composition, the contrast between the blacks and the whites, the good and the bad … I guess it’s also a representation of my way of living. Black-and-white thinking is often a way to try keeping life as simple as possible. Deviating from that way of thinking leads to complexity. In reality the world is indeed complex. That’s also the reason why it is beautiful as it is. But the brain can’t always handle that complexity.

Once a year, I get the opportunity to be a concert photographer at a local festival in my hometown, together with a bunch of other people. After each gig, we quickly develop our best pictures and print them out to hand them over to the artists. Each year I get so much satisfaction when I see the face of appreciation on those artists. Seeing themselves frozen in a certain pose forever.