Environmental Portrait

„It is not the photographer who makes the picture, but the person being photographed“

Sebastiao Salgado

Photographing people can be so easy, yet so hard. For me, the synthesis of portrait, documentary and art is the most challenging and exciting way to capture moments and emotions. The right light, genuine expression and emotion, a balanced overall composition – all this makes a good portrait for me.

I was very lucky to join my dear friend Johannes Penner, an internationally renowned herpetologist, on a trip into the jungles of Borneo. He was leading an excursion of students studying at the University of Freiburg, on behalf of the Institution for Wildlife Ecology and Management. As I am a tropical ecologist by education myself, this was kind of a trip back to my own roots… spending days and nights in the humid forests and never knowing what to expect is an experience beyond words. Thirty hours of flight and travel by minibus and boat gave us plenty of time to imagine all kinds of situations – would we encounter elephants? A cobra? An orang utan?

I was very lucky to join my dear friend Johannes Penner, an internationally renowned herpetologist, on a trip into the jungles of Borneo. He was leading an excursion of students studying at the University of Freiburg, on behalf of the Institution for Wildlife Ecology and Management. As I am a tropical ecologist by education myself, this was kind of a trip back to my own roots… spending days and nights in the humid forests and never knowing what to expect is an experience beyond words. Thirty hours of flight and travel by minibus and boat gave us plenty of time to imagine all kinds of situations – would we encounter elephants? A cobra? An orang utan?