Face to Face

Anna

I met Anna in 2008. She came to the studio for her first test shoot at the age of seventeen — curious, open, with a quiet self-assurance in front of the camera. From that initial meeting, something more than a single shoot began to take shape.

Until 2010, numerous sessions followed. Personal projects as well as commercial work. The collaboration grew over time, carried by trust and a shared sensitivity for the moment. Anna’s presence was subtle, often restrained. And that was exactly her strength.

In 2010, our paths separated. Without a clear ending, without a farewell — the contact simply faded.

Many years later, Anna reached out again. A message from Australia, where she now lives with her family. A quiet echo from the past, reminding us how long images and encounters can resonate.

CarolineCream (Karolina)

Karolina, also known as CarolineCream, came to my studio in 2017 for a casting session.
It was during this first encounter that the photographs featured in this book were created — quiet, focused moments shaped by trust and curiosity.

Although we never worked together in longer series of shoots, we did share a small number of workshops in 2017 and 2018.
After that, our paths slowly drifted apart, as they sometimes do.

What remains is a brief yet meaningful chapter — a few images that capture more than a moment, and a presence that continues to resonate beyond the time we worked together.

Christin B.

My collaboration with Christin began in 2012, when she first came to my studio.
What started as a simple introduction soon grew into an intense creative phase, shaped by curiosity, trust, and a shared openness for experimentation.

Over the following two years, we worked together on several shoots — in the studio as well as outdoors. Christin became part of various portrait and fashion projects and also joined a number of workshops, contributing not only as a model but as an active presence within the creative process.

It was a time of exploration and development, of searching and discovering — on both sides.
In late summer 2014, our paths quietly diverged, without rupture or distance, simply because that chapter had reached its natural end.

What remains are the images.
And the memory of a period defined by trust, openness, and a shared creative space.

Chrissy

Motivated. Loud. Unrestrained.
Chrissy came to the studio for a casting and test shoot in the winter of 2012 — ready to give everything. No hesitation, no warming up. From the very first minute, full presence, full energy, one hundred percent commitment.

What began as a test shoot quickly developed into an intense collaboration. Over the course of nearly two years, images were created across numerous shoots — personal projects as well as commercial work. In addition, we worked together on a series of photography workshops, with Chrissy bringing the same determination and drive in front of the camera.

Away from the set, she revealed a very different side. Quiet, sensitive, empathetic. A counterbalance to the explosive presence during the shoots — and perhaps exactly what gives these images their depth.

Almost two years after our first meeting, our paths separated.
What remains is a period marked by energy, contrast, and images that still carry the spirit of that time.

Josephin (Jessi)

Our paths crossed in 2017 — quietly, almost by chance, during a casting. From that first moment, a relationship of trust began to grow.

The portraits shown in Face to Face were created between 2017 and 2020. Images shaped by Jessi’s calm presence. By a gaze that doesn’t search, but remains. Clear, unforced, fully present.

Jessi brought a rare balance of curiosity and composure. An attitude that allows closeness without demanding it. This is where the strength of these portraits lies: they don’t feel constructed — they feel allowed.

Some encounters fade with time. These images do not.
They preserve an expression that seeks no explanation — and for that very reason, lingers.

Kim

I worked with Kim on several shoots in 2019, both in the studio and on location.
From the very beginning, she carried a distinct presence — clear, adaptable, and naturally expressive.

Our collaboration was shaped by openness and curiosity.
Whether in the controlled environment of the studio or outdoors, she brought a sense of movement and awareness to every setting.
This versatility gave the work a particular energy and depth.

Toward the end of 2019, she moved to the Rhineland, and our paths began to diverge.
In the years that followed, she continued to develop her career and is now working internationally as a fashion model, including appearances on runways in Paris.

The portraits created during that time capture a moment of transition —
between growth and departure, between becoming and moving on.
A chapter that finds its place within Face to Face as a quiet reflection of change.

Lisa Lamour

I worked with Lisa during two short but meaningful periods — in 2011 and again in 2013, both during studio sessions.
Two encounters, separated by time, yet connected through a shared presence in front of the camera.

From the very beginning, she carried a quiet intensity.
A way of inhabiting the space without claiming it.
A presence that felt composed, attentive, and deeply aware.

The portraits created during those sessions hold that tension —
between distance and closeness, control and openness.
They do not describe moments; they hold a state of being.

There were no further collaborations after that time.
Yet the images remain — as traces of an encounter that was brief, but resonant.

Lisa continues to work as a model today.
Her presence has evolved, yet something timeless remains within these photographs.

A selection of these portraits now finds its place within Face to Face —
not as a retrospective, but as part of a quiet, ongoing dialogue.

Lucy Modéle

I met Lucy Modéle in 2020 through a recommendation. From the very first test shoot in the studio, it became clear that a special kind of collaboration could develop — calm, focused, and grounded in mutual trust.

In the years that followed, up until 2022, we worked together on a regular basis. Our encounters were shaped by a shared approach to photography: reduction instead of staging, presence instead of posing. Lucy brings a quiet calm in front of the camera, creating space — for light, for expression, for what unfolds between gaze and posture.

The portraits from this period do not portray roles or tell conventional stories. They allow closeness without forcing it. The focus remains on what truly matters: face, body, presence. Everything else recedes.

Some of these works also appear in The Darkness of Light.
Within Face to Face, however, they stand for something else: direct encounters, concentration on the moment, and images that do not seek to explain — but to remain.

Marta

I first became aware of Marta toward the end of the 2010s, initially only through her photographs.
Even then, it was clear that she carried something distinctive — a face rich in character, defined by strong contours, high cheekbones, and a presence that stayed with you.

Her ginger-red hair, her ease in front of the camera, the way she plays with expression — all of it drew me in.
At the time, however, she was living in Poland, and a collaboration seemed out of reach.

That changed in the summer of 2021.
Marta had returned to Germany — and suddenly she was close by. We arranged a test shoot, and from that moment on, everything began to unfold naturally. Many sessions followed, as well as numerous workshops, where she became not only a model but a vibrant presence within the creative process.

Marta is someone who feels open, warm, and genuinely alive.
She carries a lightness, a kindness, and an ease that translates effortlessly in front of the camera — playful yet grounded, expressive without ever losing herself.

A selection of her portraits is now part of Face to Face.
Images that speak quietly, but with depth.
Moments that remain.

Nina S.

In the spring of 2007, two shoots with Nina took place — one in the studio, one outdoors. Two different settings, two distinct moods, yet connected by a shared sense of calm. These were sessions without haste, without staging, shaped by trust and mutual attentiveness.

The images live in the in-between moments. In glances that don’t ask for attention, in gestures that simply exist. Sometimes clear and direct, sometimes quiet and almost fleeting. Light and space were allowed to unfold naturally, without pushing themselves forward.

After these two shoots, our paths did not cross again photographically. What remains are images that reflect a brief but focused moment in time — restrained, honest, and grounded in presence.

Raffaela W.

I first met Raffaela in 2016 when she came to my studio for an initial meeting and a portrait session.
During our conversation, she spoke about her background as a dancer and her many years of ballet training.

Spontaneously, we decided to move the shoot out of the studio and into the old town of Essen-Kettwig.
There, the first images of a ballerina were created — shaped by lightness, presence, and a distinct physical language.
This session later became the starting point for my project La Beauté du Ballet.

In the years that followed, until 2018, we worked together on several occasions — through photo shoots as well as shared workshops.
Raffaela brought not only technical precision, but also a calm openness that enriched every encounter.

After that, our paths diverged.
Raffaela began a multi-year training program as a musical theatre performer in Hamburg, followed by international engagements.

We crossed paths again in 2023, when she returned to the region for a time.
During this period, further workshops took place, focusing on ballet, portrait, and fashion — moments that revealed new facets and depth.

Toward the end of the year, she moved to Berlin to take the next step in her artistic journey.
I look back on our time working together with great appreciation — on the images we created, the shared experiences, and a collaboration shaped by trust, exchange, and mutual inspiration.

Tatiana

I met Tatiana in 2009. Over the years, our paths crossed again and again — through shoots and shared workshops, often separated by long pauses. Sometimes months, sometimes years. And yet, each time the collaboration resumed effortlessly.

Tatiana brought a distinctive balance of openness and restraint. Presence without volume, expression without staging. Her Brazilian roots were never a theme placed at the forefront, but they could be felt in the natural ease with which she stood in front of the camera.

Between 2009 and 2016, images emerged across different phases of time, shaped by experience, change, and a trust that had grown slowly. Portraits defined not by continuity, but by connection — even across long intervals.

TotalBlue (Jeanine)

Jeanine — or, as many know her, TotalBlue — I met in the mid-2000s, shortly after she moved from Leipzig to the Ruhr area. As so often, it all began with a casting in my studio. After the very first frames, it was clear this would not be a one-time encounter.

From that starting point, a close collaboration developed — one that continues to this day, across personal and commercial projects alike. Over the years, we have realized countless shoots and workshops together, likely more than with any other model. Jeanine brings energy, ideas, and a distinctive presence that shapes every session.

For a time, we even shared a hobby: geocaching. Long nights in forests and at lost places, headlamps replacing studio lights — driven by the same sense of curiosity and atmosphere.

The portraits shown in Face to Face present Jeanine as she is: versatile, authentic, and marked by a natural ease in front of the camera that cannot be staged.