Think Pink 
   150 colour photographs and collage over 132 pages
   Hardcover 27 x 21 cm
   Printed on 100 gsm art paper
   Coptic binding
   Limited edition of 20 + of 5 (self-published)
   Printed and hand bound in Germany
   Düsseldorf 2016

In my pink portrait photography, I explore a colourful utopia where beauty and humour freely interact. Pink stands for the power that breaks the fetters of boredom and laziness, clichéd thinking and mechanical routine. It stands for the powers of imagination, courage and wit, to fight the fights that have to be fought in a world where recent political events have shown us that progress can absolutely not be taken for granted.

I love the working process which is dependent on often elaborate preparations, such as finding props, costumes and accessories, and on motivating friends and strangers alike, to indulge their love of dressing up and play-acting, almost as if they - we - were kids again.

Each shot is the result of a balancing act of planning and chance; each shot freezes a moment in a tiny improvised play, triggered by an object that the actors are asked to handle in any ways that spontaneously come to their minds. Anything goes. Be serious, charming or just plain silly. Let me guide you or enjoy your freedom and do whatever you feel like doing in the constraints of an improvised mini studio. 

I like the way how people that I thought I knew changed into somebody completely new - so new, in fact, that they often surprised not just me but also themselves, and I find it exciting to get involved with total strangers in that way, too. I love how varied my roles are in this process, as communicator, stage designer, theatre director, camera operator and stills photographer, all rolled into one. 
​
For this book I have taken the imaginary portrait of a real workplace one step further. It has turned into a fictitious art school of a fictitious future where the fight is still alive. The form is that of a beautiful handmade book object with collage elements  emphasizing the energy, the power and the playfulness that characterises this never-ending project.