Why did the Dolomites choose me?
This summer, high in the Dolomites I took the above photo. At a moment that my image of a hike in the Dolomites was a bit different from the reality. It was more like a survival tour. And I wondered why in heavens name I had chosen the Dolomites? Or did the Dolomites choose me and did I have something to do here? To dread doing something is an attitude I know well. However, doing it anyway is the counterpart and that attitude I know well too. I ended up in the Dolomites after the euphoria of launching my new website; after working in Bern at my project Night Train to Lisbon. I wanted to speed up, make beautiful images and I wanted that now! Ignoring the little voice that whispered: “you know that it doesn’t work like that, you need peace and reflection to make the next step”.
On hands and feet
So, there were the mountains to stop me, literally on hands and feet the path went further upwards. My photo backpack and tripod on my back sweating my guts out. Exhausted I reached the top at 2400 m. After an hour, I was able to get my camera out of my backpack. Wondering why on earth I was doing this. And yet, the reward was huge. I was surrounded by a beautiful and impressive landscape. I realized how much I love that. How nurturing that is. All my pores open. It gives me peace, I feel the primal force of nature, I enjoy the beauty and I can see again what is and every time that is different, it gives me insights and it reflects, it shows me who I am. But you really need to do something. My camera helps me. It deepens what I see, at that moment and afterwards. Often, I can see better what I saw afterwards, how I looked. It makes me ponder instantaneously.
Intuition
Then I realize again that I am an intuitive photographer and that I am happy with that. I can visualize many things beforehand, but repeatedly I am surprised by what is at that moment in time, what occurs in that moment: the beauty of the landscape unfolds right before my eye and the images almost come without doing anything special. That is why I photograph: as a counterpart of all today’s hardness and restlessness I need that beauty. And I love to share that with my photographs.
With my photos, I hope to pass over that feeling and experience of that particular moment and furthermore, I hope it inspires you to call on to the landscape. With autumn coming, my favorite season, there is not a better moment to go outdoors.
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