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New York has got to be the capital of street photography. You walk around pretty much anywhere, raise your camera, press the shutter and you’ll have something interesting to look at. Whether that’s on 5th Avenue, Central park, East Village, Brooklyn or Coney island. New York is cool; raw; dark; bright; cold; sexy; fascinating; scary; buzzing; rarely quiet; but always, always fascinating!

I could spend an entire year in Manhattan alone and I’m sure I could fill books worth of material in this one place alone. 

If there is one place that works well in black and white, then it’s the Big Apple. Towering concrete buildings as a backdrop, any motive screams Gotham city. Black is the official, unofficial dress code color New Yorkers live by, offering beautiful contrasts on the streets. Plenty of shadows, clear skies (especially in winter) and a never ending stream of people give you the perfect set up for street hunting. 

I took these pictures during a 10 day trip to the Big Apple in April 2018.  

New York. Manhattan and Brooklyn.

April 2018

Camera: Leica Q

Lense: 28mm Summilux

Dubai

Is new. Is modern. Is thrilling. Exciting. Vibrant. Fast paced. Innovative. Breath taking. Most visitor only know its modern face. There’s a lot more to discover. There is beauty in the old and the new. The art scene is currently exploding, ever expanding. Photography is booming more than ever and street photography will find its place among this scene. 

Random impressions of Dubai

Various cameras and lenses

Slow down, you crazy child

And take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while

It’s all right, you can afford to lose a day or two

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

-Billy Joel, Vienna

Wien du Schöne! Vienna is my home town, my birth place and my first love affair. I love its grumpy and always complaining people, the Viennese slang, the Wiener Schmäh, the crazy weather, the slow pace and the beauty of its streets. This is a continuously growing collection of random shots all taken in and around Vienna. This is my personal homage to Vienna. 

Selected photographs taken in various situations and random places. 

Hüseyin Kahraman. Actor. Human. Golden soul.

Check out his profile on Instagram:

The kind of guy you’d be scared running into in a dark alley who turns out to be the nicest guy you’d meet for miles. And he has one hell of a story to tell.

All photos were taken together with my mentor and friend Sascha VanderWerf. Check him out (he’s a legend behind and in front of the camera).

Vienna. On a (cold) day in May 2023.

All photos shot with Leica M10R and M8 using 50mm and 35mm Noctilux and Summicron lenses.

Tokyo streets May 2024

Kyoto May 2024

Dubai is a fascinating place. It is vibrant. Infinite amount of things to do, places to discover, stuff to try out. Dubai has everything and more. Sometimes it gets a little too hectic, too loud. Sometimes a little escape offers the much needed recovery. Far way from the city. Far away from it all.  

Al Qudra lakes

Camera: Leica Q

Lense: 28mm Summilux

Vienna. Wien. Birth place. Childhood memories. 

Vienna among both the Viennese, and those who lived there long enough (especially during winter months), has a reputation for being a fascinatingly morbid place. If suicide and depression would look for a capital, Vienna would be among the top 3. I love Vienna. I love the summers and the strong contrast it presents to the dark and grey winter days. I love summer in Vienna, but I also have a strange love affair with its dark and cold winter face. I’m drawn to its edgy, quirky and depressing side. ‘Oh du lieber Augustiner’ is a song that sums up its character. 

You hate it when you freeze to the bones. When it’s pitch dark in the morning on your way to work and pitch dark again on your way back. In between it slaps you with a blanket of depressing grey, completely robbing you of any energy or the will to live. 

I love Vienna in December!

Camera: Leica Q, Leica M6 and Sony A7ii

Lense: 28mm Summilux, and 35mm Summicron,

A black and white homage to my beautiful wife.

Camera: Leica Q Type 116 & M10R

Lense: 28mm Summilux & 35mm Summicron

I love Berlin! Her architecture, her people and her history. I only had little time to capture her beauty during my last trip, but I will come back for sure.

Berlin, I love you!

Classic & vintage era cars I photographed in various locations. Including the industrial area of Al Quoz in Dubai, where various new and old beauties sit around the side streets of this up & coming neighborhood. 

Camera: iPhone 7 Plus & Leica Q

Lense: 28mm Summilux

A studio portrait shoot for a friend. Inspired by Platon

Camera: Leica Q Type 116

Lense: 28mm Summilux

Lights: 2 Profoto D1 with various modifiers (beauty dish, soft boxes, etc)

Santorini dream in blue

Digital: Sony A7ii. 

Lense: 35mm Summicron 

Prater winter impressions

Camera: Sony A7ii

Lense: 35mm Summicron 

The other side of Dubai

Film Camera: Leica M6 TTL. 

Film: Ilford HP5 

Digital: Sony A7ii. 

Lense: 35mm Summicron 

Bella Sicilia!

Madrid, Sevilla and Grenada

…rough game for gentle people

80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France. Normandy, Jean St Thomas. July 2024

Kushti is a form of wrestling popular in India, Pakistan, the Middle East and Asia.

In Dubai, Kushti is a wrestling event among mostly Indian and Pakistani expats. On Fridays during the winter season, it is often carried out in Deira, behind the old fish souq.

I decided to check it out one day and after some circling around Deira’s port area; and with the help of a very helpful taxi driver; I managed to find the spot where it all goes down. I was early and so I spent some time exploring the adjacent neighborhoods. Around sunset time, I noticed a man in his late 40s, wearing the traditional Pakistani Khaadi Kurta, a kind of oversized, knee long shirt with matching pants. He was pouring water from a big jug onto a sand pit that was surrounded by large stones and rocks, forming a circle of around 4 x 4 meter diameter. 

I greeted him with ‘Selamualeikum paijan’ (peace be with you brother) and he greeted back. I asked him if I could watch the wrestle matches and he took me under his care for most of the event. Told me what I can do and what not. I bought a box of chilled water and offered it to him and the wrestlers. More and more people started showing up, taking up places around the makeshift arena. They all sat down around the circle. On the rocks or on the ground. When all the rocks and seating places were taken up, the remaining people stood in the back. A short time later, what I estimated to be around 200 people surrounded the place. I was in the center, among my new friend and the wrestlers. 

My caretaker was both organizer and MC of the event. He started yelling all sorts of stuff into the crowd and the crowd yelled back. At some point he yelled: Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest) and the entire crowd, in unison, screamed it back from the top of their lungs. A goosebump inducing scene. Slightly intimidating with me in the middle of it all. A fascinating spectacle. 

Domenika

A brief collection of my photography work