I’d like to share some photos I took in September and reflect on what moved me that month, and where I am on my journey with the conscious photography project. 

I was brainstorming a lot with AI in September. Not because I think AI can provide all the answers, but because I find those conversations valuable. I prompt the AI to ask me questions, then reflect and give my answers. And that process helped me discover my ikigai statement. That was a huge shift. 

My primary goal in photography isn’t about taking pictures. My ikigai statement is: I want people to experience the simple yet difficult act of being present, and how that can transform their lives. That keeps me grounded in what I do and gives me a different perspective on my photography. 

I know I’m in a bit of an AI bubble. I’m falling into the trap of collecting conversations rather than pictures, and not finding the time to process them properly. AI is very confirming, too, so I can’t take its answers entirely at face value. I have to process them and turn them into little projects. And that excites me. 

A little arrangement, full of space 

I went to a little workshop where we made Japanese-inspired flower arrangements. I love arranging flowers. I love flowers. And I created a gentle little arrangement, full of space. This is the first picture I’d like to share with you. 

Bringing it home, it was kind of unimpressive. But it grew over time, for me and for my wife. It taught me that this is a side of me that needs a voice, that I want to give space and room in my life. The sensitive side, the gentle side, the empathetic side. 

The picture itself doesn’t give it enough credit. Looking at the arrangement, I felt it was more than some flowers arranged in a beautiful way. It somehow pointed to something beyond that, something bigger. And that is an experience I’d like to recreate in my photography. 

So the goal isn’t just to create images, but images that evoke meaning, that give the viewer space to explore what’s going on. Pictures that hint at something beyond what we can see. Throughout the month, I wanted to relive that experience. 

Nude not nude 

And the second picture is something that I rarely do. It’s one of a shooting with a model itself. It’s a nude picture. And she kind of sits on a chair. We see her in her profile so we can’t really see her face. There is some light on her breast and she’s holding a flower on her thigh. This taught me this: I’m not really photographing the body. I’m not really photographing nudity. That’s not the subject itself. The subject is the kind of mood that these elements evoke in the viewer or in myself. 

A photograph is never the whole picture 

The third  picture is a kind of self-portrait, taken with my film camera. I’m in the Rosengarten in Tiergarten, Berlin – one of the most romantic places in Berlin I can imagine. I’m sitting there, with trees and flowers in the background, looking at the flowers. Somehow, it carries this feeling of longing, of being somewhere. 

This connects with the philosophy of photography I’ve been writing through those conversations with AI. A photograph is never the whole picture. That is one of its key elements. It’s only a fragment of reality. But if we capture that fragment in the right way, it can evoke the whole picture. And that picture can be different for everybody. 

The idea isn’t to be like a tourist and capture what’s in front of me, but to capture something that evokes a bigger picture. That’s something I’m working on. 

A little pause 

One other thing: I think I’ll take a break from the podcast for now. Moving to London, my new hometown, with my wife will take priority. I don’t think I’ll find the time to post regularly, so I’ll share shorter posts through my mailing list. 

I don’t know when the next time will be but stay well.