“Only beauty can save us” –  Fyodor Dostoievski

I think the search for beauty in photography as well as in all arts is a very valid occupation. I‘m even old fashioned enough to believe that beauty has to be the aim of art, because beauty is as much an aspect of truth as wisdom is.

If one is insensitive to the one then one can not find the other. Beauty itself is a value as goodness and honesty and it can be a medium through which humans can understand their own predicament. So beauty has it‘s place and even a valuable function, it can show us that in the human condition of suffering there is beauty which can redeem it. It enchants us, moves us, elevates us, broadens our spirit and enriches our lifes, it draws us into the depth of our being. But it gets more and more lost, although it is a way of finding ourselves.

What is interesting when I move with a camera is, that all of a sudden the world becomes such a more vibrating, juicy, and wonderful place, because I do it with so much more focus and attention. Automatically my appreciation increases. Sure, I always move around with the photographic angle, looking for a good composed picture and observing the light, but nevertheless it puts some very strong intensity and vibe into my looking and frees me from unnecessary thinking, concern and worrying.

Especially in my nature photography, I am deeply connected with the landscapes, I immerse in them and do feel a certain gratitude towards existence. I marvel at the brilliancy of it and simply want to share this. It is very simple. Behind this is the immense love for the appearance and I have a deep inclination towards frail and transitory appearances like fogs, clouds in the mountains, stormy weather, rainbows and the like. They do reveal to me the mysterious and ephemeral quality of live. 

Mostly I try to look beyond what is immediately present to me and photography can point towards a mysterious sphere. I also like it when one does not right away know what one is seeing, when there is a certain confusion to it, because this hints to a more complex reality of things. That in itself can be very beautiful. Also if there is a certain amount of innocence, of awe in the perception, than beauty gets revealed automatically.

The tenderness of a landscape or the fleeting moments of fog scenes, the beauty and depth of a face – they all can create an atmosphere where a glimpse of the transcendental gets revealed to me. I‘m somehow allowed to perceive something with my limited perception of something that ultimately has no limit. I can never reach it with my normal mind, but photography can hint to it. So I see my task as a photographer to recognize the sacred in ordinariness and simplicity, actually in all that exists. Beauty in a picture can come about when the hidden order in things is revealed, when good composition comes about, when the mysterious suddenly appears or by just capturing the awe I perceive in creation.