During my mandatory military service in Germany I discovered a darkroom on my base and started using it after hours; thankfully my military career ended after 18 months and I started a 3 year apprenticeship in a photography studio in Moers and later in Düsseldorf with Uli Steinmetz.
After that I assisted various other photographers in Düsseldorf (Hartmut Kiefer, Dieter Eickelpoth) and in 1988 I arrived in New York City for a vacation (I am still here). Some more assisting followed, working with Norman Parkinson was a highlight, and then I started shooting myself, at first still lifes and later interiors, architecture, travel, portraits etc. This was all before the “Digital Revolution” so I traveled around with (sometimes hundreds) of rolls of film and boxes of polaroids, shooting mostly for magazines such as Metropolitan Home, Departures, Travel & Leisure, O at Home, This Old House, Luxury SpaFinder etc. Today it’s much easier with just a laptop. I live in Brooklyn and sometimes I miss Polaroids.
some of my recent clients:
Snøhetta, Gensler, DLR Group, Little Island, Related, The French Laundry, Times Square Alliance, Starwood Hotels, Ultra Fabrics, Gran Kriegel Architects, W Architecture&Landscape, Roche Bobois, Balthazar Restaurant, Il Buco Restaurant
917.402.8977
photo of me by Lara Kaufman