About me

Perhaps surprisingly, this is the section I struggled with the most when putting this little website together. It’s not that I don't have some idea of who (I think) I am, but which of the “hard facts” that you would typically put in a CV are actually of any relevance to my photography? Turns out not many at all. IMHO, anyway...

Anyway, here goes: Born at a time when The Doors were still pretty much in their prime, I grew up right on the Baltic Sea. The sea has always had a very special place in my heart, but I much prefer it in the late fall to early spring period, in challenging weather, when I can enjoy it without hordes of tourists around. I do enjoy a bit of peace and quiet...

I did not start getting into photography until I was in my mid twenties. As a kid, my experience with “photography” had been sitting through never-ending slide shows of family photos. Not exactly an inspiration to pick up a camera and head out the door to create art. It wasn't until I had seen some classic images by the likes of Ansel Adams, Brett Weston and Sebastião Salgado that my view of what photography was all about changed completely. I saved up to buy my first camera (a Nikon F90x), a couple of lenses and a tripod. I also stocked up on books on photographic vision and the technical aspects of photography. Yeah, I can be a tad nerdy sometimes... 😉

I traveled to beautiful places around the world and took landscape shots on Fuji Velvia 50 (a highly saturated slide film) along the way. The learning curve was steep, as the results, often disappointing, were not visible until weeks after I got back and the films had been developed. I didn't mind, as it was the experience that counted, and nobody can ever take away from me the memories of struggling to switch film with numb fingers in the freezing pre-sunrise cold at the bottom of las torres in Torres del Paine NP.

When I look at the old images these days, which I don't do often, they still take me back to those beautiful places and the unique memories associated with them. Photographically, however, I can tell that I've come a long way and that my taste and style have evolved over the years. I have also moved to a digital system (Fuji GFX), but that's beside the point I’m trying to make. I sometimes wonder what my images would look like today if I went back to those same places. Granted, some of those places have also changed over the years and are not as “unspoilt,” for lack of a better word, as they were 20 or 25 years ago. I guess it's partly the fear of spoiling my memories that keeps me from wanting to go back if that makes any sense.

I feel inspired by simplicity, shapes, lines, and subtle tones. I love the outdoors and would say that, at the end of the day, I probably value the experience of landscape photography over the actual images. I believe in the idea of trying to capture the “essence” of an emotional experience rather than just documenting a scene. With that in mind, I consider the post-processing bit of photography an integral and important part of the process. There are hard limits to how far I am willing to go in post, but deliberate local adjustments to luminosity and contrast are essential tools for me to lead the viewer's eyes through the image and help realize my, pardon the posh term, artistic vision...

I feel that I'm still very much in the process of developing and refining my way of expressing myself photographically, and I hope this journey will never end. Not as long as I can see beauty around me and operate a camera. And if you check back in every once in a while, you may see a bit of development in my work over time...