part one of the gatherer series, formaly consists of two simultaneous lines showing the same action. while utilising the viewpoint of surveillance cameras, one stresses the fact accessing an abundance of fresh food from containers is still an illegal act in many countries, including germany, the other line follows the activists themselves right by their side and literally shines a more bright light on their at first glance suspecious looking activity in the night.

this is the first spontaneous follow up to the initial gatherer series. on tenerife i ran into a loose group of streetartists, pirates and travellers, who where highly efficient, well coordinated and carefully maintained their free sources for food, electricity and water. encountering underground dumpsters for the first time i noticed: here they realy dive! sharing parts of the bounty near the beach, some tokens where manifested with fire and music to acquire what coulnd't be found this day - for another warm night in windy medano.

visiting friends in helsinki, already the first night i found myself within the next dumbster experience again. after a short struggle whether to dive or to take pictures, devoting myself to the latter was as easy as the 'shopping' conditions in this omnipresent cooling box of a place this can be. i had my x100t with me, and some of the sites we checked by car even came with lighting and bags from the roll. on the long run i really had to pay attention not to take to many bags of cake each time. luckily, there were loads of bananas and avocado, too!

since 17 years m. from kiel in northern germany goes to swim in the baltic sea the early mornings to start the day the reviving way, even when its far below zero.

following a long distance paddler down the winterly river schlei into the baltic sea in his rhythm of endless strokes and days and nights. each letting his body and soul wander and wonder in the spectacular now, he enters the sea of new horizons.

conceptual documentary for zeiss, promoting their ZEISS Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZF.2

approaching the 1972 olympic sailing compound in kiel schilksee from the water in late autumn.

'on the shores of a mystical island
there lies a cave with a magical door
all are welcome but those who enter
never shall return not a single day more.

can you feel the rhythm of my heart beat
beating in time with the drum in your hands
fly away on the waves of the ocean
seeking and finding the butterfly people..'

(source: circle)

in wintertime many species migrate to chill out in the warm south. this impulse also affects parts of the human kind. while many try to find bliss in a sunnier version of their accustomed concret jungle, there are some, who look for more.. they call themselves the pirates, the punks, the ninjas, the nomads, the yogis, the yoginis, the gipsys, the hippies, the outlaws, the wizzards and witches - you name it. some you can find on the enchanted canary islands in the atlantic ocean, where calima, the breath of the desert, still pays a visit. there is volcanos of snow and laurel forest, wet and lush, but it's the barrancos and the beaches where little candlelights and bonfires show you the way home at night. dancing along the shore, playing with their bodies and waves, they celebrate and meditate, eat and kiss, and sing the reality they wish for into existence. then, once in a while, the rhythm of the moon calls some to hop over, to another beach with another cave on another magical island - to do the same thing!

protect our havens - be kind and keep it clean!

portrait of a musical project that combines cabaret style and gipsy jazz - both in music and in life. based in el médano on tenerife.

a personal insight into the path i am on. a travel diary starting with a spontaneous four months journey which forged together five friends and me back in 2012 and changed our lives fundamentaly. most of us met for the first time by litterally running into each other with open arms at night in the middle of an empty hill on the camp ground of a hungarian psy-trance festival two days before it started. This is where the adventure started, which led to the road trip of six twenty-somethings growing together, having insights about their purpose and place on this blue dot, and how all our paths are intertwined to provide us always with what we need, not what we want, and how to let this become the same. seeking a stronger connection to themselves, the earth and the entire universe to stay in this flow, and experiencing how alternative ways of living based on sharing quickly propel a groups energy to levels where basic needs are met by an unimaginable abundance, focus can be drawn entirely on personal growth and spiritual development. constantly realising that one cannot step back from an insight. experienced and understood in it's entirety, change of actions is inevitable. acting out your visions allows you to make the encounters you/the others/we need - to thrive.

since that journey started, it never really ended. to profound were the implications of past experiences: there is wisdom and magic waiting to be discovered! 

the chosen images rather try to meet my personal focus then to outline the whole path with all its turns and twists. it is an ongoing 'project' containing pictures from about four years by now.