Having graduated from the University of Music in Vienna with Honors, what made you turn to photography and conceptual art?
After a few years at the University of Music I realized that I’m neither born for the stage, nor good at teaching. And after some time I found out, that I have a very strong ability to visualize ideas and experiences rather than transforming them into music. Since my grandfather, my father and also my uncle loved to take photographs, merely for a documentary use, I started experimenting with the camera at the age of 15. Going to college in Nelson, New Zealand, for a period of time, I took the analog photography class, which increased my desire to know more about it. I frequently used my dad’s old camera, mostly to capture aesthetic landscapes from unusual perspectives. After I graduated in Music and Dance Education in 2014, I had found out, that I certainly don’t feel like pursuing a musical career. Therefore, I made a clean cut at first, and found my way back to painting, photography and art. And by the time I found myself focusing more and more on photography and conceptual art. I seek to widen my horizon by exploring other media, such as art objects and interactive video installations and so my profound musical experience intervenes more and more in my visual art day by day.

You find your motifs taking long walks through the city and your photographic works often depict urban spaces devoid of people. What is it about those environments that you want to capture and how do you find them?
Working on a project with a college recently made me realize how much the Neue Sachlichkeit and the New Topographic Movement influenced me. I wasn’t aware remnants of places, that used to be enlivened by people, catch my eye like that. When I’m walking through the streets on a regular day, I would never see it. But as soon as I have the camera with me, my way of looking and how I perceive things changes. I’m more observing and realize there are moments that I find gripping. Sometimes I have short series where I didn’t know at first what I wanted to do with the photos and later resulted in series like “Aus der Reihe tanzen”, “Grenzen erschaffen Abgründe” or “Hear My Song”. Of course that’s a subconscious process. Sometimes I see something that works together, sometimes it’s clear that it’s a single picture and sometimes it’s something to figure out during the editing process. And it’s difficult to photograph people on the street. That’s also a reason why I capture what they leave behind. The object becomes the subject. There is some aliveness to those environments because the remnants are still inspirited by the people who brought them to life. The situation’s soul is still there. And how do I find them? It finds me. I don’t go looking for it, it just happens like that. I greatly enjoy these photography-walks. On the one hand because it leaves me with a good feeling coming home and on the other hand because I appreciate the act of photographing. It centers me, I feel comfortable and not as drained as so often in life.