Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome & bienvenidos!

The living world has always fascinated me and so I studied biology at the University of Würzburg (in Germany). I had the opportunity to visit the Galápagos Islands in 1999, and that’s when I started to take photographs of all the fascinating animals and plants.

It didn’t take me very long to be enthralled by the organisms in the tropics and soon after my trip to Ecuador, I realised that I wanted to study tropical biology and animal ecology. Luckily, the University of Würzburg has such a department plus a research station in the Comoé National Park (Ivory Coast, Western Africa), focusing on biodiversity and ecological interactions. Another research station (in the vicinity of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia) was used in order to study the wonderful fauna and flora of Borneo.

Usually, I find the small organisms to be even more fascinating than the often overrated mammals, so it didn’t take me long to get me my first macro lens.

In 2006, I bought my first digital camera. From then on, I photographed more and more – especially plants, insects, spiders, amphibians and reptiles. Today, I enjoy posting some of my photos on Flickr.

Fascinating places I have visited include Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica, the Ivory Coast, the Republic of South Africa, as well as the islands of La Réunion and New Caledonia. Not surprisingly I speak German, English, French and Spanish – but I also take good care of my Babel fish.

As a son of a school teacher (English & French), I got introduced to many things the British and the French were up to. I simply love the BBC for everything they have done – starting with Monty Python’s Flying Circus, continuing with Doctor Who, and concluding with the wonderful work of David Attenborough and the BBC Natural History Unit. Visit the ARKive website (www.arkive.org), if you want to find out something about nature.

On top of being a biologist, I am a typographer and a big science-fiction fan. I particularly love the work of Douglas Adams (who also wrote a book called “Last Chance to See” together with zoologist Mark Carwardine).

I work in nature conservation and urge you to support ARKive and/or the environmental organization of your choice.

Evidently, there are some madmen on this planet. So let’s get one thing quite clear: I do not care about your political views, your religion, the colour of your skin or your country of origin. I do care about Nature and nice people who treat others fairly. There is only one rule in my book: Let us be kind to one another.

The following motto is dear to my heart: Take nothing but photographs. Leave nothing but footprints.

Cheers and thanks for visiting!