The story behind the lens

Where it started

I grew up near Freiburg in southern Germany, with France and Switzerland just across the border, the son of a German mother and a French father. Photography was already part of my childhood — my dad was a hobby photographer, at some point I got my own camera as a kid, and I started photographing all kinds of things around me. I was fascinated by images and magazines coming out of California and the Southwest in the ’80s.

The real turning point came at seventeen, when I went to Connecticut as a foreign exchange student. My American high school offered a photography class, something that didn’t exist back home at the time. That one elective made me realize I wanted to pursue photography seriously. I returned to Germany and, after finishing school, completed a four-year apprenticeship in traditional film and wet-darkroom photography through Germany’s dual-training system, followed by work as a photo assistant in a commercial studio near Freiburg.

Behind the lens, professionally

My professional photography career took me in a lot of different directions. I started out as an assistant in a commercial photography studio in Freiburg, where I learned the fundamentals of studio work and working with clients. In Berlin, I later worked as a freelance sports and press photographer, shooting professional soccer, the Tour de France, tennis, and golf for agencies, magazines, newspapers, and other publications. It was the kind of work that taught me to anticipate a moment instead of waiting for it to happen twice — because it never does.

Later, while traveling and living in the U.S., I collaborated with a Chicago-based stock agency, Panoramic Images, specializing in medium- and large-format panoramic photography for fine art and commercial clients. It was a completely different discipline that taught me to slow down and think in wide, deliberate frames — often waiting days for the right light.

Both approaches stayed with me: knowing when to react instantly, and knowing when to slow down and wait.

The places that shaped me

I grew up near Freiburg, with France just across the border and family ties that meant I spent a lot of my childhood traveling through France as well as Switzerland. After Berlin, I moved from Germany to the United States in 2003 and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I later met my wife. After 15 years in California, life eventually brought us to the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. Each place has left something with me — from Freiburg and its European crossroads, to the energy and pace of Berlin, California’s light and culture, and now the wide-open skies of Arizona.

How I shoot

I don’t believe there’s one right way to photograph a person. Sometimes it’s natural light. Sometimes it’s carefully shaped studio light, on-camera flash, or a simple reflector. Sometimes it’s a location, a particular mood, or simply the right moment. What matters is creating an environment where you can relax, be yourself, and let your personality come through.

After 30+ years behind the camera, I’ve learned to pay attention to the person first — by now, the technique is almost second nature. Every session is different, and the goal is always the same: to create images that feel authentic to you.

A few disciplines, one throughline

Fashion, studio, sports, panoramic, portrait, pets — at this point, I’ve worked across most corners of this craft, and each one has left its mark on how I approach the others. Sports taught me timing. Panoramic and landscape work taught me patience with a frame. Berlin taught me to work fast and stay ready. All of it, together, is what shows up now when I’m behind the camera, photographing you.