Twenty years – jump into the unknown

Exactly 20 years ago today on April 22, 2004, I took a leap into the unknown. Uncertain because at that point I didn’t know exactly where this journey would take me. But one thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to make my life, my work and my creativity self-determined.

What began as a one-man show with graphic services quickly developed into a small but very fine, industry-specialized advertising agency. It didn’t take long until it led me to photography. In 2009 I started photography more or less self-taught and worked on the subject over the next few years, which ultimately led to me being able to use photography to realize great and extensive projects for large companies and corporations worldwide. A great passion – my passion was awakened.

Over the course of the following years, however, it became apparent that my idealism of creative work in the advertising world had become increasingly tiresome. Initially blinded by the creative possibilities that were available to me, the magic faded over the years and I realized that I was just a puppet of consumer society. Selling untruths and portraying circumstances differently than they actually are was my daily bread. The clients were “bien sur” well-known international brands were among my agency’s clientele. But the bigger the budget, the more it resembled a kind of prostitution and self-realization became increasingly overshadowed by the slavery of my services.

But my view of “das Wesentliche” had always developed and changed over all this time. An important key moment in this development was attending a lecture by the photographer Peter Lindbergh in 2010, who philosophized about the past together with Jim Rakete and reviewed their shared experiences from the 80s and 90s. Back then, it was a crucial moment for me to leave the artificial and sometimes over-retouched world of advertising behind me and take a path towards “real” photography and “real” creative work.

Now it was time to live life consciously again, limit myself to the essentials and follow my dreams, no matter the cost. So a few years after this experience, I left everything behind and started the first, self-directed production of my photo book Obsession for Freedom. For me it was a kind of revolution back to the old values. For the first time, I limited myself exclusively to black and white photography, which, in my opinion, actually limits the photographs and emotions to the essentials. What my dreams always strived for – something “real”.

Another leap into the unknown followed in the transition from 2017 to 2018. I left the advertising world behind me and founded BLACK BOX GALLERY GmbH with the aim of limiting myself exclusively to what I enjoy, what I am passionate about, something that has “added value” and something more sustainable than the fast-moving world of advertising. This newly won freedom, the liberation from the prostitution that captivated me, is an infinitely precious gift that is worth striving for. And so today I can look back on numerous of these self-determined, creative productions.

20 years have now passed since my first jump and I am lucky to have implemented many great projects with many great people. So far it has been an exciting journey with, I would say, almost exclusively happy moments and I sincerely hope that the next 20 years of my work will be as great as the first.

I would like to thank all the people who have accompanied and supported me on this path and I would also like to thank everyone in advance who will accompany me on my further journey…

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