Oliver Samwer in the fast lane

Last week I had a very quick shoot. Oliver Samwer, CEO of the European Founders Fund lives in the fast lane. Together with his brothers Alexander and Marc, the Samwers established the European Founders Fund and are among Europe's most consistently successful entrepreneurs investing in internet start-up companies.


We communicated via SMS, he changed the location twice, and I finally met him at a West London hotel lobby as he was finishing a meeting with a business associate. He had arrived from the US that day and was already on his way back to the airport to fly to Turkey - oh, and there was another meeting somewhere along the way. It was a good call to arrive 15 minutes early, as he was already jumping into a taxi by the time we were supposed to meet. 

The shoot lasted a whole five minutes - a few pictures inside the lobby, then a brisk walk out in front of the hotel, conveniently we stayed close to the taxi rank. I managed literally a 'few more' frames before he had enough, a quick handshake, I turned around and he was gone.

Today one of the portraits appeared across a whole page in the German Spiegel Magazine - some of the others you can also view in the slideshow below.

Visum Fotoschule - my first workshop

I'm excited and it's official: together with my German agents Visum and their Photo-school, we have now launched my first workshop project proposed for this autumn. From 1st to 5th October, I will be leading a 5-day visit to one of my favourite places, the Vysocina region of the Czech Republic. 


Although landscape and travel photography are the focus of this workshop, course participants will have significant influence over the final subject choices. More infos here (in German), but watch this space for an English workshop description.

A short slideshow of what you can expect is below:

Tarnished Earth exhibition opens in Bristol

The Tarnished Earth exhibition schedule has been extended yet again and it will open in Broadmead in Bristol tomorrow. An article annoucing the exhibition appeared here.

The Silk Investor: Zin Bekkali

Last month I had a short but pleasant portrait assignment with a young entrepreneur called Zin Bekkali. He's the CEO and founder of Silk Invest, an upstart city firm investing in the lesser know markets of the former trade routes.

Sympathetic, energetic and a mix of cultures, Zin was easy to photograph and a pleasure to meet. Below are a few selects from the encounter - and I am curious to see which my client at Frankfurter Allgemeine picked.

A Day in Dungeness

Probably most famous for its location housing Britain's first and oldest nuclear power station, Dungeness has also been named as one of the most 'authentic' spots to visit, with the others being Zanzibar, Antigue and Vienna.

Well, I'm not so sure about that, but certain aspects of the large shingle beach littered with rotten boats, dumped containers and fishing gear give it a third world feel. It's not all bad, though. We found plenty of picturesque scenes, and you probably have to take the rough with the smooth.

Dungeness point does feel a bit like the end of the world, with the wide, flat coastal expanse giving it an air of desolation, emptiness and, um, bleakness. See for yourselves here, or go visit - it's about 2 hours away from London.