2024 Year in Review
2024 - What a year! The past 365 days brought the full spectrum of emotions I could possibly imagine. It was a shift from unimaginable grief to complete bliss. This year, my oldest friend left us far too early, leaving behind his wife, his two children, and some of my fondest childhood memories. Rest in peace, Thoralf! We all miss you.
It's difficult to change the subject now, but even while I was grieving, I searched for what fulfills me in life: photography. In 2023, I realized two new, independent photo series with “Eternal Echoes” and “Midnight Refuel”. Both photo series arose organically from curiosity about my environment. The topic of energy generation and use found me, and I interpreted it with my visual language. “Eternal Echoes” is the result of an experiment with wind turbines that lasted several years, ultimately culminating in an expressive series. It has received awards at five international photography competitions and is currently on display at the Lianzhou Festival in China.
“Midnight Refuel” originated as the first work in our new second home. Since February, our family has been running the small but exquisite Boutique B&B Nomadara near Málaga in southern Spain. Nomadara is a retreat from the hustle and bustle and cold of Germany, a place where we meet great people, enjoy a diverse landscape, culture, and cuisine, and recharge our batteries. It is also the starting point for my new photo trips and workshops, which I offer here several times a year in small groups. During my many forays through southern Spain, I was captivated not only by the wonderful Alcazabas and olive groves, but also by old gas stations covered in patina, glowing in the dark of the night. The attraction probably arose from the many exciting trips I associate with gas stations.
I am incredibly grateful to both my new and long-standing clients for their trust and excellent collaboration. I always measure my performance only by the next shoot that lies ahead. Every picture counts. With every job. Getting the best out of every situation is my constant drive. This way of working ensures many short nights, very long working days, constant investments in the latest technology, huge amounts of data, and sometimes frozen fingers or bright red sunburn. But the result of a photo shoot is and remains the greatest motivation in my life.
The year 2024 began in January with a photo series about the most beautiful libraries in Central Germany. Even during my studies, I loved the academic atmosphere and the accumulated knowledge that these rooms represent. For the project, I visited the libraries of the Francke Foundations, the Juridicum, the Steintor campus and August-Bebel-Strasse in Halle (Saale), the “Gregorius Agricola” University Library in Freiberg, the city library in Mittweida and the Zwickau city library. The images were later used by the camera manufacturer Hasselblad to demonstrate the wonderful quality of their latest wide-angle lens, the XCD 20-35E, which I was using as a beta tester at the time.
In February, we had a very fun change of pace. For a campaign with Payback, we accompanied two Payback points on their way through Berlin to the ITB trade fair. Also on board were my long-time client PIO and my partner company for high-quality video productions, Flightseeing. We certainly didn't go unrecognized with the blue giant points. Everywhere in the city and at the fair, people waved and cuddled - and took lots of photos. Over 70 motifs and a social media reel were created in two production days.
For a new architect, the IO Group, I was on the road in March documenting a wonderful logistics center with all my equipment: interior and exterior photographs, drone shots, video and time-lapse. All this during ongoing operations. Two production days flew by and provided a rich pool of media with which the office can now market its wonderful design. I have truly never seen such a beautiful logistics facility!
As the saying goes, April does what it wants. But the assignments this month also covered a wide spectrum. From documentation in my hometown for the Office for Building Regulations and Monument Preservation, to the documentation of the wonderful trade fair stands of DASS at Wire & Tube in Düsseldorf, to the hotel photos for our B&B in Spain, everything was included. However, the most extraordinary light was during a shoot for my long-time client iPro Consult for a project near Berlin. On that day, a nearby forest fire created a unique atmosphere and incredibly soft, warm light, a mood I otherwise only know from California.
May was definitely the highlight of the year. After a second production for the IO Group, I went straight to Switzerland to the Cabane Tortin, Europe's highest private mountain hut. Arrival by helicopter, glaciers, polar lights, view of Mont Blanc, a wonderful client - what can I say - it just doesn't get any better than that. My loyal sponsors Inovativ, Gitzo, Solectric, Vallerret and TUBBS also got their money's worth during this shoot and are still advertising with the pictures taken during this shoot.
In June, I accompanied the Day of Architecture for the Saxon Chamber of Architects for the 5th time in a row. Among other things, I was able to gain an insight into the conversion of the German National Library by KHM Architekten, the orangutan habitat by Heinle Wischer Architekten and the Stadtforum Dresden by Barcode Architekten. Even after half a decade, I can only recommend that anyone interested in architecture mark the last weekend in June in their calendar for this event. Great projects can be seen throughout Germany in every federal state.
Then I went on a short summer break. I accompanied my son as a supervisor on a class trip. It's great to see how the little ones behave when they are not at home. We celebrated my 34th birthday, and I was able to take a look behind the scenes of the European Championships and photograph the data center at the Leipzig Trade Fair. I don't think you see so many monitors in one room even during a rocket launch.
Refreshed, I went into the second half of the year in September. During a shoot right on my doorstep, I created new visual material for the Leipzig Trade Fair - no easy task with such a frequently photographed building. My experience as a drone pilot helped me to explore new perspectives. I also met with four enthusiastic photographers for our first workshop in Andalusia. We spent a wonderful week together and parted ways, recharged with inspiration and drive.
In October, I visited the Hanseatic City of Hamburg for Schnick Schnack Systems to photograph a new lighting system for the Kulturwerk Norderstedt. I don't think I've ever had so much control over the room lighting as I did here. Absolutely no daylight and the full RGB spectrum of the LEDs definitely ensured rich colors in the pictures.
As the year drew to a close, I completed another project with my sponsor Inovativ, the documentation of the former trade fair buildings in Leipzig's city center. The project had many complex facets, as it mainly involved very tall buildings in narrow streets, which are often obstructed by cars, people, advertising and exhibitors. We created the images with a combination of high tripod and drone and used Inovativ's Voyager production cart to transport all our equipment across the city. In addition, in November I was awarded Architectural Photographer of the Year at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for my photo series on the Cabane Tortin.
In December, I completed the largest project of my career to date: the documentation of the state capital Dresden and its districts in 10,000 images. The project has kept me busy since 2021. But more about that in my soon-to-be-published project description. For the last shots, my studio colleague Martin Neuhof and the video crew from Flightseeing accompanied me to show what my work as a city photographer looks like. We created photos and videos for the project sponsors Adobe Germany, ARCA-SWISS, Gitzo and Oberwerth and have already reached over a million views on Instagram.
What a year. I look back with pride on around 100,000 photos taken, 13 international awards, publications in the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Observer, Photo World China and the Times Magazine. I am delighted about our new dual student Björk, the Core Leveler 60 as the most used new piece of equipment and three years of Duolingo Steak without a break.
And now back to the camera. Because in the end, all that matters is the next shoot!
