I was born in northern Germany in 1970. My father and I spent every summer holiday in the Mediterranean area. That is where I became addicted to the water. Certified in scuba diving in 1986, I spent several years diving with a local diving club. My first trip to the Mexican peninsula was in 1998, where I completed my full cave certification. Since then, I started conducting more challenging cave dives in France at sites such as the Ressel or Saint George. These more demanding dives motivated me to use rebreathers for deeper and longer penetrations (AP Inspiration and T-Reb).
In my home region of Germany, there are very few natural lakes. Because of their low visibility, these are rarely in good condition for diving. Quarries such as Kreidesee Hemmoor or See im Berg in Messinghausen are well known since the 1990s and guarantee excellent conditions. After that, I also learned that there are a multitude of accessible flooded mines throughout Germany.
With a small camera system, I became involved with underwater photography in the early 1990s. The fantastic visibility and the impressive scenery of the walls and structures in the „See im Berg“ made me intensifying my photography ambitions. The Sunlight beams and long shadows can create spectacular impressions under water, so I kept this aspect in focus. Over the next several years, with the help of my sister, who is an educated photographer, I improved my photography skills.
Using strong video lights (bigblue vl 65000 P and similar), I have intensified taking photos in local slate mines. My new Sony A7c with its full frame sensor makes previously unattainable low light scenarios possible with remarkably low picture noise. With this amazing camera, I can capture the lights and deep shadows in these overhead environments. My desire is to capture these historical sites and the extreme conditions the men who worked in them had to face.
In my real life, I‘m a chemist and medical physicist in the pharmaceutical industry. Married and have a son. Luckily, my family also shares my diving enthusiasm.
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