stealing souls for cash

This November, I was part of the photographers’ crew on the Fotomuseum’s portrait day. Many families, friends, and groups of any kind made the pilgrimage to Winterthur to have their picture taken and eat their hearts out at the brunch buffet.

I photographed ten families and one single man in 30 minute sessions, and it was way more fun than I expected. Nothing beats a good ole’ studio session with my beloved Hasselblad and trusted assistant and better half Christoph. Plus the buffet was kick-ass!

Here are some of my favorite photos from that day.

I’ve photographed many, many families recently – two family stories for parenting magazine Wir Eltern and lots of portraits for the Fotomuseum’s portrait day.

I love photographing families because they are just so interesting to me. Coming from a big family myself, I’m always curious to see how everyone interacts. Some families I meet and don’t want to leave because they are so loving and friendly. With others, I drive away thinking: Phew…!

So, anyway, here’s the first assignment: pictures of three families with a latecomer baby (or two), for Wir Eltern, in September.

Zweisimmen, Bern, August 16, 2013, for Wir Eltern magazine. Read the article here.

These three youngsters I photographed for Schweizer Familie are all portrayed in the excellent documentary about refugees, Neuland, which, if you haven’t watched it already, you absolutely have to see.

It was a real privilege to meet Calista, Nazlije, and Ehsanullah, and spend some time with them. I was especially moved by Ehsanullah, who had coffee with me after the shoot. We were hanging out at Starbucks, sitting outside, smoking, making small talk and waiting for Nazlije, and suddenly – out of nowhere – he burst into a flow of words, telling me his whole story: Why he left Afghanistan, his odyssey across Asia and Europe to reach Switzerland, and how he misses his family he hasn’t seen in years. “I was so young and naive,” he said, “I wish I had never left.”

Read the whole article here.

It’s that time of the year again: the time to share my mighty Zurich look books with you. Books 3 and 4 include all the photos from my Zurich Insurance shoots for last year’s annual report. Here are some pictures of the physical books and you can check them out online here.

Painter Patrick Müller, Altstetten, Zurich, June 28, 2014

Natascha Hürlimann and her school kids, Kilchberg, December 2013, January 2014, for PH Magazin “Akzente,” agency: Raffinerie.