I know nothing about photography.
Yet nothing is a big idea. It is a long road that eventually leads to what we call nothing. That’s pretty much where I started. And I’ve never left.
I can clearly remember the moment when I first used a proper camera. I shot a portrait of one of our family’s friends. But much more important than the moment when I had first shot was the moment I saw the result weeks later. That was when it started. Long before cameraphones. It was in the summer of 2001 and the camera was given to me by my father’s then girlfriend Doris.
God knows if she had had the slightest idea of what would be the cause of what she had just done. I for myself…had no clue. Nothing. Again.
Ever since those days I have always had a special connection to any of my cameras and more importantly a very intimate relationship to anyone I would take pictures of. I never come up with a concept or write down ideas. I see the human mind as the living room of our ideas and both the creator and capturer of it. A God given gift. So why not use it? It is way more reliable than a sheet of paper or the file on a smartphone, the latter I don’t posess anyway. So if we forget we either do not believe in it or the idea, as simple as it is, isn’t good enough. This is the way natural selection takes its toll. The longest stretch of time I had kept an idea in my head until I finally did the shoot was nine years. So this is where faith comes into play. And as the thought is nothing compared to the feel, faith is bigger than hope.
All of this coming together is presumably the most interesting aspect of art. Whatever piece of art is finished, even made with the slightest amount of pressure has a crack in it. And it’s this very crack that may define all the rest. It represents humanity. And of all the great ideas the greatest of them are there from the very beginning.
So quintessentially I only take copies of pictures. From behind my eyes to in front of them. Human interaction opens the walls of our mind’s eye.
Using analog cameras I depend on faith. When I kicked digital and went for an old fashinoned camera I thought “well then, go and challenge faith.“ But there was no need. Once you bow no pressure is of need. Belief… as pathetic as it may sound, is all that is of irreplaceable need. A circle…infinity…emptyness. A great place to start. And revisit.

I know nothing about photography.
Yet nothing is a big idea. It’s as much final destination as it is origin. And as the space between the beginning and the end is made pretty comfortable once it’s being filled with nothing I decided to stay…at a place called emptiness. The day I first used a proper camera changed my life. It was my good friend Doris who gave hers to me during a family holiday.
But much more important than the moment when I had first shot was the moment I saw the result weeks later. The feeling that I had created something beautiful made this moment so very special. That was pretty much when it started…in the summer of 2001.
Ever since those days I have always had a special connection to any of my cameras and more importantly a very intimate relationship to anyone I would take pictures of. This human interaction that I fully rely on makes writing down ideas beforehand totally unnecessary.
As natural selection takes its toll I have absolutely no angst of forgetting about ideas. So if I do lose sight of an idea, the latter was most probably not worthy of keeping in mind.

The longest stretch of time I had kept an idea in my head until I finally did the shoot was nine years. So this is where faith comes into play. And the two of them, faith and photography, are the strongest of my instruments in order to successfully battle perfectionism.
Reaching a state of mind without perfectionism is presumably the most interesting aspect of art. Any piece of art that‘s finished, made with the slightest amount of pressure or speed has a crack in it. And it is this very crack that could define the entire artwork. It represents humanity. And of all grand ideas…the greatest of them are there from scratch.
So quintessentially I only take copies. An image from behind my eyes is being turned into a picture. Very simple…

Using analog cameras I even depend on faith. When I kicked digital and went for an old fashioned camera I was thinking of its use in a very philosophic way. I thought I would now have to start challenging faith or something. But there was no need. Belief is all that is of irreplaceable need. And this circle…emptiness…belief…infinity…makes a great state of mind…and a great place to be.