A Match Made in Heaven
“I don’t know anyone who loves snowboarding as much as Reto.”
I have heard this sentence from several sources since I started photographing the story of Reto Neiger, the founder of Zen Snowboards, a year ago. Raised in Switzerland’s Hasliberg, Reto found his snowboarding passion here and rode as a pro for several years. Today he handcrafts premium custom snowboards from local wood in the valley of Haslital.
Terje Haakonsen is considered one of the most influential snowboardersin history. Since last winter, he has been riding Reto’s boards. Just recently, Valentino Guseli decided to develop and build his boards with Reto. He is an extraordinary talent with a promising future in snowboarding.
Understanding Reto’s journey, it seems natural that the two have become part of it. Their shared values have drawn them together, and by chance I was there to ride along.
Intro from story printed in Pleasure Snowboard Magazin 150
Land Jenseits der Wälder
Transylvania, Latin for "Land beyond the Forest", is not a land of vampires, it is a lovely peaceful landscape embraced by the Carpathian Mountains. Yet there has been a lot of suffering over centuries of shifting European history. I was born there and this project started with the search for my identity. I started with the intention to portrait the village I grew up in. By spending time with the few elder Saxons that still lived there, reading the cemetary and roaming the forest, I learned where my roots are.
GAF group exhibition at Photogargae Zürich, 2012
Summit in Sibiu
The Heads of State of the European Union met for a summit in the area where I grew up in Romania. It was a special event for me to document. Thirty years after the revolution and bloodshed in this very square, I could witness a peaceful gathering and people surprisingly cheering for the participants as if it were a festival. Politicians are not commonly greeted with joy, and it was nice to see how they lost composure here and there and seemed happy. I had been asking myself, if the Transilvanian Saxons, had they known that Romania was to become a safe place for them, would have stayed in their land. I found the answer in the cemetary of my village. With all the stories that are buried there, it becomes clear that this generation would run as soon as they could. You never know what's next. Today, Romanians are building their democracy, despite all the old structures and wounds, struggle and resignantion, turning an event like this into a celebration.