Teahupoo itself is a black beach place with many local rent out rooms and the vibes are really good – as they usually are around surf spots. We were lucky to stay with a few surfers from Brazil (including the pro-surfer Dennis Tiahara). When the guys went our for a surf the next day, they asked if we’d dare to go out with them to take some photos. This was a great opportunity and we followed their request immediately. Some local guy they knew, took us out to the massive waves on his jet-ski and we spent the next two days taking heaps of shots right near this world-famous break. It was an unforgettable experience to be so close to the action.
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Dragon’s Backbone
The Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces – also known as the Longji rice terraces – are the most famous in China. They were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, about 500 years ago but construction actually began in the Yuan Dynasty over 700 years ago. Neatly planted with a very sophisticated watering system, this is farming since many hundred years in this fertile area. The walking trails are abundant and it’s easy to spend a week without going the same way and with every step you take you get another view.
Market Life
For many people, life revolves around the market. It’s the place in every city (at least where supermarkets haven’t taken over yet), where people go to buy their daily needs. From dawn until dusk, markets are a bustling melting pot where all social classed collide.
Bangladesh 2012
Bangladesh is a country that usually doesn’t cross a travellers path. The country faces a number of major challenges, including poverty, corruption, overpopulation and vulnerability to climate change. Still, Bangladesh is one of the most fascinating places with the most wonderful & welcoming people, rich culture and fantastic photo opportunities. Hopefully we can return again soon!
Portrait / Men
Portrait / Women
Africa in the 70s
Since I have been travelling from the early 70’s, when all those modern gadgets were not yet invented, travelling overland through remote and unexplored regions of the black continent was a privilege for only a hand full of people. Today a lot of regions that I explored by 4×4 truck with the simple method of a compass and map, are no longer accessible, at least not without an unease feeling. Back then, with Nisa in tow, the little white girl opened doors to the grimmest police officer just with her smile.
Ship Breaking Yard
Research through the internet taught us, that the beginning of the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh came by “accident”. After a severe cyclone in 1960, a Greek ship was stranded on the beach of Chittagong and could not be re-floated for some years. Then it was scrapped and this was the birth of the Bangladesh ship breaking industry – which is the second largest in the world.
Burkina Faso 2012
Burkina Faso is one of these countries, of which most people have never heard of. “Burkina Faso” is thus meant to be understood as “Land of upright people” – and it definitely hold up to this saying. Though a land-locked country, it has much more to offer than one would ever expect.
Laos 2011
One associates Laos with peace, tranquility, calmness & very welcoming people. It’s a landlocked country, where the Mekong winds itself through deep forests, mountain ranges and finally down into the low lands. Monks gather along the shores of the Mekong and it almost seems like, time stands still in this part of the world. As a former French colony, the French-Indochine feeling is very present to this day.
Ghana 2010
Ghana is home to a number of diverse people and cultures, coexisting in a rapidly modernising country. It’s a land of proud people and a destination full of history and relaxation. The country is frequently labelled as ‘Africa for Beginners’, yet getting around is by no means easy. Still, you’ll be able to choose between tropical jungles, the Sahel zone in the North, white sandy beaches in the South or bustling city life when travelling to this destination on the Black Continent.
Food
On our numerous journeys all over the world, we’ve come across all sorts of food and “delicacies”. Some of them have made it onto our personal menu list, while others were eye-candy for our lens.
Barbers
If you’re travelling through India, you’ll notice that the hairdressers you’ll pass along the streets are barbers for men only. Lady hairdressers are mostly hidden behind closed doors or curtains. If you insist enough though, even a local barber will give you a nice wash and blow dry … and if you’re really lucky (and you’re up for it) even a haircut. Don’t worry, hair grows again… after all, no risk, no fun.
Austria
Our home country has much more to offer than The Sounds of Music, Mozartkugeln and Waltz. Austria’s landscape varies from open plains to high mountains, from steppe to deep forests, from small lakes to large rivers and neat little villages to the world famous Vienna.