My motivation to photograph derives from my fascination for the power of light. It is immaterial and we cannot touch it. But it transforms the material world, which we can sense by touching, into something we can also sense by seeing. This is a fascinating miracle. Depending on the light and the viewing conditions the image of the world we see changes. But what we see is also largely determined by our mind. We can see the world as an image of something ordinary or functional that we are used to handle. Or we can try to see the world without its everyday meaning, perhaps like a child, as a pure visual impression. I find most satisfaction in photography in situations in which I can relax, dream, kind of meditate, and be able to forget the ordinary meaning of the world sensed with my eyes. Then I only recognize the shapes, structures and patterns which the material world reflects to my eyes by the light. Framing the view with the camera is guided by intuition which, of course, is based on some aesthetical background which cannot be denied. Ideally, I want to discover and show some unusual, possibly surprising and beautiful image or aspect of the world, even of a completely banal object. This goal is difficult to achieve, but I strive.

My above objective to extract the abstract qualities of our environment is perhaps easiest to be realized in a natural environment. Nature is best in creating patterns and structures which have no direct utilitarian meaning to us. It is for that reason that I have always been attracted by rocks, sand, and wood which exhibit a plethora of natural shapes and patterns.

My thinking and seeing is perhaps related to and has been influenced by eminent photographers like Brett Weston or Minor White. But also the ingenious way by which Arnold Newman has included the environment in his portraits by juxtaposition or repetition of shapes have left a deep impression on me.

Apart from these photographic aspects I am also fascinated by the technical process of photon catching and image recording itself, may it be chemical or electronic. In particular, the digital image provides an incredible freedom to interpret the raw image, in the sense of Ansel Adams, into the desired result. For me this is ultimately the printed image along with the haptic experience of the paper base.