How do you describe your own art practice?
I am a photographer working in the fields of art and architecture with focus on restricted or invisible areas. The projects bring me around the world and enable me always new perspectives. I am much more interested in signs and tracks of human beings than showing pictures of themselves. Architecture is much more for me than constructed landscapes, it is the carrier of contents and a mirror of society. I am working with an analogue view camera. Working with film is risky but also has its advantages. You are independent in terms of batteries. It allows you to work during extreme conditions like temperatures of -55°C or +60°C. Due to its enormous weight it is challenging on the one hand but also allows you to work with longtime exposures during bad light conditions in combination with storms on the other hand. I like the charming grain. Usually, I take one picture of one motif. That sharpens my perception and increases the concentration. This very slow and static working process also influences the picture language. My aim is to create calm and reduced photographs which offer a platform for discourse. The projects are then published as photo books.
North Warning System, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, 2020
Which question or theme is central in your work?
The longterm projects are dealing with socially, economically and ecologically relevant topics. I am concentrating on current developments. To plan, research and organize those projects needs months and years in advance and is permanently accompanied by failure.
from The Mars Series, Antenna Test Zone, ExoMars Programme, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands, 2016
What was your first experience with art?
I got in touch with art and architecture already during my childhood. My father is architect. But I really started to work and deal with art during my studies in Germany. The years before I slowly approached to art and photography, step by step, trying things, experimenting.
Military Facility, Norwegian Armed Forces, Andøya, Norway, 2020
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
The developments around the world themselves. Topics which affect us all.
EastGRIP I, Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet, Ice Core Project, 2019
What do you need in order to create your work?
Time.
from the series Closed Cities, Mirny I, Yakutia, Russia, 2011
What work or artist has most recently surprised you?
Well, “surprised” is probably the wrong description but I was fascinated by Basquiat in a current exhibition in Vienna and also by another show presenting works of Ernst Haas.
from the series The Box: V (Messerschmitthalle Schwaz), 2014
