Capturing Memories

“I take a photograph when I see something that really makes me feel something. My photographs are memories of places and feelings. So there’s a nostalgia when I look at it afterward. It’s a combination of what I saw in the moment when I took the photo and what I remember and feel afterward. A combination of present and past.”

How did you get into photography?

I grew up near the mountains and always went hiking. I spent a lot of time in nature. And I simply felt the urge to capture it all. My dad had this old analogue camera and I convinced him to give it to me. I took it with me everywhere. Photography became a way of capturing memories. It was a way to make sense of what I saw. I can go back to photographs and know exactly the way I felt in that moment.

I worked for a year after school and saved up some money, which enabled me to travel to some places further away: Nepal, China. Places that are not at all like Europe. I believe that if you have more time, you get to experience a country in a different way, so I travel for longer periods at a time. All my life, I have always felt the need to continue traveling. I have that wanderlust inside me and I always feel the need to explore new places.

A travel experience you’ll never forget?

I went to Nepal and did a trek there. I always liked hiking but I never did a longer trekking hike.  It was one of the best times of my life. And the Himalayas were just amazing. It is so beautiful to experience a country by walking through it. With everything you need in one backpack. You meet so many people. So, I really embraced this travel style. We went over this mountain pass, at 5,000 meters high. And you could experience the boundaries of your body. It makes you think about so many things when you are just this really small person hiking through these great big mountains. You begin to see and experience everything differently. It changed the way I saw the world and the way I see myself in the world. It was a really intense experience.

One of your first memories of being someplace really far away?

I went to China with my sister. It was just the two of us. It was really exciting because I didn’t know any Chinese and the people I met didn’t know any English. We took really long bus rides all around China. We went to some places where there were no tourists at all. And people just looked at us like we were they first foreigners they ever saw. At one point, we flew to Chengdu to visit a beautiful national park Jiuzhaigou nearby. There were so many lakes there and some of the most incredible colors I ever saw. The landscape was so unique.

What has being a photographer taught you?

I have learned to be patient. I only take one photo at a time. One photo of something that inspires me. So, it has changed the way I see things. I pay attention to what’s going on around me.

What inspires you?

People inspire me. How they travel. How they go around life. The things they’ve experienced. It’s inspiring to see that and then to connect it to your own life.

Where’s the one place you always return to >

It’s a beautiful lake, Sylvenstein, about 12 kilometers away from my home town. It’s a nice place to go swimming in the summer. I haven’t been home if I haven’t been there. It’s one of my favorite places in the world.

If you had one photo to send into the future, what would it be?

The day when we crossed this mountain pass in Nepal. There was a lot of snow. And there was a lone hiker. And then there were these tall mountains all around covered in snow. I believe we are always moving faster and faster. And in the future, it will only increase. So if people looked back at this photo, it would take them back to a time when you would walk alone through wilderness. A time when things were slower. Where nothing else matters except you and nature

What’s next on your list of places to visit? I have a list of places I want to go. Mongolia and Uzbekistan. A lot of open space. Places with untouched nature. I’m drawn to open spaces.