My 2019 Retrospective
As the year is coming to an end, it is time once more to reflect upon this year’s highlights, reviewing the year in pictures and thinking about what next year may hold in store. I like writing these short retrospectives every year to preserve a written memory of what has happened during the past year and I enjoy sharing my thoughts with you.
Want to catch up on previous years? Feel free to read my previous retrospectives.
2019: Highlights
Usually I would start my retrospectives with the one singular highlight that comes to my mind when I think back on the past year. Last year for example, it was becoming father for the second and third time in a matter of 7 minutes, as the twins entered our lives. The year before that I made my first steps on creating video content for my Youtube channel. However this year I was lucky enough to have several amazing things happen to me:
My first book: Luxembourg City through the Seasons
The first highlight this year was the publication of my very first book! I finally decided to publish a book of my images made in Luxembourg City. Luxembourg City through the Seasons is the result of 6 years of work, photographing the capital time after time. Ever since my first exhibition back in 2016 I was asked time after time: “Do you have book?” Three years later I can finally say “Yes, I do!”
I am overjoyed on how the book was received and I obviously underestimated your interest! I planned an initial run of 100 copies which sold out even before I received those first copies. Since then I have struggled with resupplying the book and keeping up with demand. As of today over 400 copies have left my hands… I’d like to thank all those of you who purchased the book, may it be here on my website, or directly in my atelier or in one of the shops selling the book. Your support has been simply amazing!
Home and Away: the exhibition of a lifetime
The second highlight this year has to be my exhibition “Home and Away” at the Contemporary Art Gallery “Am Tunnel”. A few years ago, I never could have imagined that I would get the opportunity to create such a large exhibition in such an amazing location. “Home and Away” is like a trip down memory lane for myself with its 130 pictures made during many different trips all over the world as well in my adopted country Luxembourg.
While I do not know the exact number of visitors of the exhibition, I know that there has been a steady stream of visitors every day. It has been a lot of fun holding guided visits and talking about the images. Several more guided visits will be held next year and I’d be happy to meet you there!
Creating the “Home and Away” exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery “Am Tunnel” has been an incredible experience and I am immensely grateful to Spuerkeess for having made this show possible!
In order to create something that would outlast the exhibition after its closure in April 2020 I also published a book that includes all photographs that are on display at the gallery as well as texts and images about the exhibition itself. If you’d like to have a piece of the “Home and Away” exhibition, you can purchase the book online.
“Home and Away - The Book” collects all images from the exhibition and is available for purchase exclusively on this website.
The year in pictures
This retrospective would be incomplete without showing you a selection of my favourite images made this year.
As every year, most images were made in Luxembourg, while others were made on various trips.
Luxembourg City
While I have now been living in Luxembourg for 11 years, I still discover new amazing locations all the time and I never get tired of creating new photographs in my adopted country.
I must honestly say that the city of Luxembourg is currently a mess with the many roadworks and construction jobs! I despise cranes! They simply do not fit into my creative vision and I avoid them to the best of my abilities when creating new photographs. Some cranes have been disfiguring a few iconic sights in the city for years now and I regret that I have not been able to photograph those places for a long time. My favourite view over Luxembourg CIty’s Grund is no exception, having a crane standing next to Saint Michael’s Church for months now. But what can you do? Progress has to be made, and a city has to evolve. Luxembourg has done so at a very quick pace, adding several new malls, the new tram, new skyscrapers… On the other hand, this situation has forced me to explore the city differently and has helped me to compose familiar places in a new way that I might never have discovered were it not for the cranes…
The year started with some beautiful spring days. The cherry blossoms in Luxembourg City always make an interesting subject to photograph and complement the beautiful sceneries of Luxembourg’s Grund neighbourhood.
Cherry blossoms and Luxembourg’s old architecture blend together well during spring.
Fall is and will always be my favourite season. The sun sits low in the sky for the better start of the morning and creates incredible sceneries together with a little morning fog.
Luxembourg’s Christmas market seen from below the Adolphe Bridge.
Place de la Constitution lights up every Christmas season when the Christmas market is in town.
Mullerthal
Luxembourg’s most idyllic forest is always worth visiting again and again, during every season and every type of weather! I have returned to the Mullerthal several times this year, mostly for some 1-to-1 workshops and also for the annual photography workshop.
When temperatures fall below zero for several days at a time, the Mullerthal’s Kalktuffquelle becomes an incredible spectacle of water and ice.
Valley of the Seven Castles
My home region in the west of the Grand-Duchy is known for its seven castles. While some of the castles are very easily accessible, some of them are private and hidden away. Yet others have been undergoing repairs for years. Back in the beginning of the year I thought I’d try to photograph all seven castles. Of course it would have to be under some special light or with some special weather conditions. This project is still a work in progress, but I am happy to report that I am making some progress…
Lately I took advantage of a snow day and managed to capture a few pictures of the two Ansembourg castles and the Hollenfels castle. Earlier this year, I got few images from Septfontaines on a foggy morning. And while I already have a few images of the other castles, I yet have to photograph the castles of Koerich, Mersch and Schoenfels under some special conditions.
Septfontaines castle during a late summer morning with a bit of fog.
The Old Ansembourg castle during a cold winter morning which brought a thin layer of snow.
Hollenfels Castle in the Valley of the Seven Castles in western Luxembourg during winter.
Inside the gardens of the New Ansembourg castle during a cold winter morning.
Quebec
Last February I returned to Quebec on a family vacation. Have you ever taken a plane with a toddler and 6 months old twins? Neither had I! What an adventure! I would gladly tell you more about it, but you’ll have to come by one of my guided visits at the “Home and Away” exhibition. ;-)
As expected, Winter had Quebec deep in its grasp while I was there and I managed to sneak out a couple of times and create a few images.
Parc de la Jacques Cartier in Quebec, Canada during winter.
Walking on a frozen river below the immense waterfall of Montmorency in Quebec, Canada has been a highlight this year!
Monschau
I spent a couple of days in the quaint little town of Monschau late this summer. While this was not my first visit to this beautiful German town, this was the first time that I had some rather favourable weather conditions to create a couple of images. At sunrise Monschau is a very quiet place and I enjoyed having the streets and half-timbered houses all to myself.
Traditional fachwerk houses along the river Rur in Monschau, Germany.
Typical half-timbered house along the river Rur in Monschau, Germany.
What else did I do this year?
A couple more exhibitions
Before the “Home and Away” exhibition, I held two smaller exhibitions earlier this year. The first one took place at the Hôpital Kirchberg and the second one at the Belle Etoile Shopping Center. Both were a lot of fun and I’d like to thank the organisers once again for inviting me to exhibit my work.
Luxembourg Calendar 2020
Year in, year out, the Luxembourg Calendar has become somewhat of a tradition for myself, but also for many of you. This year marked the fifth anniversary of the calendar. Once more I have to tell you how grateful I am that you enjoy the calendar so much coming back every single year! Some of you have been collecting the calendars since the very beginning when I started this project on Kickstarter. If you still have all 5 calendars, send me a picture with you holding the calendars to be featured on one of my social profiles and get a surprise when you order next year’s calendar! :-)
In previous years I would usually have a few copies left in January, but this year the calendar sold out well before Christmas. If you missed it this year, better luck next year. ;-)
My new atelier
In last year’s retrospective I showed you my new studio/atelier which was still a work in progress back then. I have now been working out of my new atelier for a few months and it has been fun having so many of you coming over to check out my fine art prints, pick up your online orders or just have a chat!
If you’d like to pay me a visit, get in touch and we’ll make an appointment.
Photography workshops
I enjoy sharing my passion for landscape photography and I find it fulfilling to teach photography to like-minded photographers. I held several 1-to-1 photography classes this year, as well as a couple of group workshop. Do you wish to see what my workshops are all about? I’d be happy to guide you during a workshop for 2020. Feel free to book your spot for any of the upcoming workshops. If you are getting a workshop as a gift, I’ll send you a neat gift voucher.
Street photography festival
I’ve been a member of the Luxembourg Street Photography collective for many years and this year our merry band of photographers organised the second edition of the Luxembourg Street Photography Festival. The festivities took place at Rotondes in Luxembourg City with a large exhibition, workshops, conferences as well as the traditional slide-night to close off the festival.
Preparations for next year's festival are already well underway and we are doing our best to make it even more special than last year’s event.
More information can be found on the Festival’s official website…
What I learned in 2019
I’d like to start a short new segment this year where I’d like to talk about what I learned in the past year.
Hiking in Luxembourg’s Moselle region with our family of five.
I learned that travelling with three young children is pretty challenging, especially when you have always travelled with an avid wish to explore and create. As described above I made a couple of trips this year, but I have only created very little photographs during those trips. I even made one trip this year to Italy during which I did not find any moment to head out, explore and come back with a couple of images. In the future I will have to learn a new way of travelling in order to reconcile family life and landscape photography. I will share more about this challenge in future blog posts…
Which brings us to the final section of this retrospective:
What I plan for 2020
Oh boy, where should I even start? I have so many ideas for 2020 and it’s hard to put them into words right now…
First of all, there should hopefully be lots more pictures from Luxembourg. Even after living here for all this time I still have a long list of places to (re)visit and photograph. By the way, if you have any suggestions for places you think I should photograph in our tiny little country, I’d be very happy about your advice. And who knows, maybe we can even go there together for a shooting! ;-)
Having not travelled a lot this past year, I am also planning a pretty ambitious trip later this year. As I said above, travelling with three young children is challenging. However I hope to rise to this challenge and if it all pans out it should be pretty epic, with lots of new things to discover and photograph! I’ll share more information about the trip as it takes shape…
There should also be another exhibition this year, maybe two, but with all the work that went into the “Home and Away” exhibition this year, I will definitely dial down the exhibitions for a while to concentrate on different projects. What different projects you may ask? Well, you can expect new workshops and a couple of new novelty items, but as every year, I have to keep some things a surprise. ;-)
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Thank you so much for following along my journey. Your support is paramount to my work as an artist!
Many thanks for reading!
I wish you all the best for 2020!
