From a buzzing advertising talent knee-deep in overtime to a calm and relaxed full-time yoga teacher with her first brand-new studio: The story of Stuttgart based yogi Maja Mast shows just how easy it is to change course in life. And how wholesome the outcome can be.

These are fast-paced times. Hectic, full of pressure, overtime and the ticking of a clock somewhere at the back of your mind. No one knows better than Maja Mast, a young woman who just opened her first yoga studio in Stuttgart-Dürrlewang – Yoga Studio Fox. Who let the fox in, you ask? Well, thanks to Maja’s foxy red hair, her first nickname as a yoga teacher was Fox on a mat. The studio may be new; the name stuck anyway. The space is bright and breezy, a comfy atmosphere welcomes us equally warm as Maja’s smile and determined handshake. Yes, she is a yoga teacher now. But not long ago, her life was looking strikingly different. “Prior to discovering yoga, I was grinding away as an advertiser”, she recalls as we sit down in the middle of the room. “After a couple of years, however, I had to admit that all the clichés connected to these fields were entirely true. Exciting work, to be sure, and just the right thing for me at the time, but after tons of overtime and weekends spent working, my body was telling me that it was time for a change.”

And not in moderate tones: Developing back problems in the mid-twenties sure isn’t the best sign! She laughs. “Not really, no. Back then, a friend of mine took me to a yoga class she was attending at the time. Hesitant at first, I tried it for a couple of times – and completely fell in love with it. It’s safe to say”, she today says, “that my demanding job has driven me into the arms of yoga.” Quite a couple of years passed. She began establishing a fierce yoga routine, attending more and more classes until she decided not only to practice yoga but to teach it. “I wanted to dig deeper into the philosophy behind it and began the first of many yoga apprenticeships”, she says. “I got schooled in many different styles, approaches and varieties of yoga before I gave my first classes. The philosophy behind yoga truly is fascinating, it’s more of an individual journey to a common goal than a guided tour.”

Not long ago, she was teaching in offices, at private homes or in rented rooms normally used for something else. Then she stumbled across this beautiful location in Stuttgart-Dürrlewang, a bright, modern and cosy room ideal for personal yoga classes that are a far cry from overcrowded yoga halls or cliché-laden Indian stereotypes with incense and pictures of Vishnu on the walls. “In the beginning, I really enjoyed switching locations, but I realized rather quickly that I needed my very own rooms to bloom and to do the things the way I wanted them to do.” This location was absolutely perfect for fulfilling her dream, she emphasizes: “A lot of yoga studios are far too big and frequented by far too many people as to guarantee an effective or healthy class. In fact, certain problems can even get worse once the practice is not overseen properly and constantly. That’s why I prefer smaller classes. They guarantee that I can monitor everyone and can step in if necessary – not to mention the close personal contact.”

Her approach is a decidedly contemporary and personal one still honoring the ancient origins of the philosophy – much like Willems Eyewear using tradition to create progress. “Yoga is really there to help you”, she continues. “Of course, you have to fully engage in it and of course you need a teacher who knows what she or he is doing; that given, yoga will make your life better.” She must know: being tall and slim, her body was prone to backache. Now there’s nothing of the sort. “My body became a lot stronger”, she beams. “More stable. These days, I can spend quite a lot of time crouched in the most uncomfortable positions without feeling any pain. It’s much more resilient.” Equally important, though, is what changed mentally: Yoga and mindfulness are fundamentally intertwined. “Yoga is all about freeing yourself from outside influences. News, ads, other people, everything there is influences and steers you through your everyday life – mostly subconsciously”, she says. “Yoga is here to teach you how to block all that out and to focus on yourself. Consequently, this is what leads you to what you really want because you are not influenced anymore. I know this may sound a little esoteric, but it’s just a fact, to be honest.”

Does yoga teach you to become a better person, in the end? “At least a more relaxed and kinder person”, she answers after due consideration. “Just take life as it comes, try to go with the flow. It’s just not worth it worrying too much. Plus, yoga is all about your relationship to your surroundings. Karma, non-violence, the origins of vegetarianism can all be traced back to the doctrines of yoga. Be kind to others and others will be kind to you. It’s really as simple as that.” Of course, you need some time for it. “Oh, and patience”, Maja laughs brightly. “Some people want too much too soon. That’s not the way to do it. You need time for your body and your soul to adapt.” If you willingly let it happen, she promises, the results can be a game changer. For her, they already have been. “I have to young kids so teaching yoga is the best way for me to keep my balance and my cool.” She laughs. “God knows this would not have been possible in my old job.”

Find out more: https://www.yogastudiofox.com

Credit: Stephanie Trenz

Willems Eyewear’s Cornwall series is not only an exceptional example of the brand’s timeless pioneering spirit. It’s also a testimony to what travelling can do to an open mind. Join us on a journey to the ragged coastline of mesmerising Cornwall.

There is something about Cornwall that cannot be described. A deep, rural magic that transcends the beauty of nature and becomes something else, something holistic. Lush gardens, beautiful houses, rough cliffs, green meadows and cosy pubs, bound together by an inherent and timeless sense of English elegance: that’s what this county in Southern England is all about.

It’s also what’s inspiring Andreas Kraft, owner of pioneering optician brand Willems Eyewear in Stuttgart. “Travelling helps me to leave everything behind for a while”, he says. “It empties the mind and allows it to take in other things. New things. Changing your surroundings also means changing your emotional landscape.” Kraft doesn’t use travelling as a means of escaping, though. “That wouldn’t work”, he laughs. “You’re with yourself all the time so where should you be escaping to?”

New inspiration, new perspectives, that’s what it’s all about. He nods. “It cleans my head more than anything else.” Instead of trying to visit as many places in as little days as possible, he loves to immerse himself in one specific place. “I want to have the feeling as if I would really live there. I want to understand a place, unearth all the details there are.” That’s also what he did when he was visiting Cornwall a couple of years ago. “Cornwall did something to me”, he muses. “It’s a unique landscape even within the UK, sophisticated yet rough. The colours alone are truly unique and something you never forget.” He smiles in recollection. “I have never seen fudge as colourful as that.” And there he stood, ever the innovative optician, thinking of transferring these colourful fudges to new visionary frames.

That’s how his inspiration works. Forms, materials and colours he associates with a specific place find their way into his designs all the time. “Cornwall, or the UK in general, struck a chord, and I wanted to unite the elegance and the roughness of that region in one of my designs.” And so he did. Fast forward to 2013: The first models of his Cornwall line were being finished, the onset of a very successful line being constantly refined and developed to this day.

Key piece and base of this timeless collection is the model Mousehole, named after an adorable Cornish coastal village. A special piece based on the iconic form Kraft’s grandfather did as his journeyman’s piece, it’s also an archetypical example of Cool Britannia. All the other plus 35 models take it from there, also taking their names from special places in Cornwall.

As with all his models and lines, also his Cornwall line breathes a certain lifestyle. An iconic and romantic sense of Great Britain from the foggy highlands of Scotland via the Punk and Wave explosion in eighties London to the serene and peaceful beaches of the south. It is there in the south where Andreas Kraft also met James Midwinter, retoucher and photographer with a wild passion for Cornwall and surfing. The two of them clicked – and now four of Midwinter’s mesmerising and almost mythical images of the Cornish seaside and its surfers grace the cleaning cloths of the Cornwall line, thus sublimating a unique take on a piece of timeless and visionary eyewear. Kraft beams. “His images truly reflect what I want to say with this collection.” And thus, two visions become one reality.

Photographer James Midwinter has spent a lot of time living and working in London. As much as he loves the bustling city, though, he’s really fond of escaping the crowded world of concrete for his beloved coast of Cornwall. There, in the very south of England, far from the crowds and the noise, he finds peace and the vistas that inspire him to immortalize the spellbinding beauty of the rough coastline.

What is it about Cornwall that sparks your fantasy?

I spent most of my adult life living in London, where most of the time you can rarely see more than a couple of hundred metres in front of you at most. Cornwall’s huge open spaces, from the beaches to the cliff tops to the moorland are such a vivid contrast to that life that it changed my entire photography style. Suddenly I was looking at the horizon almost every day, and I find that to be so good for the soul.

But you are not originally from Cornwall, are you?

No, I’m originally from the Midlands, the centre of the UK. I then went to the University of Westminster in London, and stayed there until my early thirties. Nowadays, I live in Newquay, on a little peninsula called Pentire.

Tell me about your favourite spot in Cornwall.

There’s so many great places, but on a sunny, still day, there’s nowhere better for me that the Gannel River that runs between Newquay and Crantock. You can jump on a Stand up paddle board and float along the aqua waters, looking up at beautiful houses built on the slopes, and arrive at the dunes of Crantock beach to watch the sunset.

“It’s just you and the ocean”

Describe the perfect day off in the Cornish countryside.

Driving south along the coast, coffee at Open in St Agnes, a walk down to the beach to shoot some surfers, then on to St Ives to check out some galleries, then back to The Living Space in Watergate Bay for dinner, before arriving home with a full belly and full memory cards.

And a perfect day in London?

I had a close to perfect day in London last year, when my friend Kam and i ate some ‘special’ Brownies then just floated between the Tate Modern, on to some other galleries before having dinner at Blacklock near Leicester Square. The food there is unreal!

For how long have you been a surfer?

I had a few go’s in my late twenties when visiting Cornwall, but only took it up properly when I moved here a few years back. I should really have gone out for a bunch of lessons, but pig-headedly decided to just work it out for myself using YouTube videos.

What do you love about surfing?

There’s something really meditative about waiting for your next wave, it’s just you and the ocean, with no phone or social media to distract you.

How do you usually find your motifs? Or do they find you?

I shoot a lot of bad images. And in amongst them I find an occasional gem. I think Instagram had helped my photography by making me think about how my images sit next to one another, and that means when I’m out in the world shooting I always have a certain aesthetic on my mind, guiding what I’m looking for, and how I shoot it.

Your pictures radiate a calm and soothing minimalism. How would you describe your style, your approach?

I joke that I take photos of mostly nothing. But really I’ve just tried to strip life back to a blank canvas with a few marks on it. The world is often a really over-stimulated place, so this is my reaction to that.

More on:
https://www.instagram.com/jjmidwinter
https://www.instagram.com/jamesmidwinter

Sometimes, you can just hear it in their voice: True dedication, resonating out of every syllable. An artist talking about his art, a craftsman talking about his profession is always a sublime thing: The heart speaks freely of that which it admires the most. No filter, no processing, just the outright, passionate truth. Needless to say, these moments are very rare. And if you find one, you hold on to it. You cherish it. Just like when you are talking to Uwe Tauber.

“Uwe Tauber. Maker” is all his website is headlined with. Not a lot, but then again, it is as true as it is telling. The 42 year old is handcrafting the finest leathergoods with finesse and a gut feeling for quality – purses, cases, boxes, bags. A maker, just as his website says. “That sums up best what I am all about”, he laughs. “I have always been of the opinion that it is better to do something by yourself than asking someone else to do it.” Not out of arrogance, he adds, but out of curiosity and a lifelong passion for craftsmanship.

As a precision mechanic, Tauber is bringing a hell of a lot of finesse and precision to the workbench. Still, becoming such a pro in leatherware as an autodidact took him a long while. Twelve years ago, his life changed drastically, and he was lacking a certain outlet in which to challenge himself, to immerse himself in. This is when he stumbled across that special material called leather. “When I got home from work, I sat down, put on some music and just worked away on some leather pieces.” Soon afterward, instead of buying a new purse, he simply made one himself. “This is how it all began”, he recalls.

His passion for the art of leatherwork built as quickly as word of his skills got around. Not long after, he was fully dedicated to only the finest leathergoods and began building up a stock of customers. Not for the sake of selling as much as possible, oh no. In fact, quite the contrary is the case: “I began doing this only for myself – as a form of relaxation. But when more and more people kept asking whether I could make them a thing or two, I began taking things to the next level.”

In the future, he plans to expand his business considerably – Tauber-style of course. “There will be no webshop. If you are interested in something special, just call me and we will be working on ideas.” This personal connection of his costumers is why he is doing it. No anonymous people ordering stuff off the internet but special characters with special stories. Individuality is the keyword here, his number one priority. Uwe Tauber only does customized products, nothing ready-made here.

Why leather, you ask? “It is such a beautiful, living material”, Tauber raves. “I remember getting an old spectacle case from my grandma that my granddad had with him in Second World war. That was more than 70 years ago and it still looks fresh! Over the years, leather is becoming more and more beautiful. Just like a good whiskey, it’s aging very well.” Tools are important, too. “I had to find out there’s a reason why some tools are much more expensive than others”, he admits with a grin.

Tauber just loves working with his hands. In the workshop, but also in the kitchen where he turns out to be an avid and creative chef. “No matter where, the quality of the product is of utmost importance”, he stresses. That means that only the best leather is used for his goods and only the finest meat is landing on his barbecue. “I always try to buy all my leather in Germany”, he explains, regretfully adding that this is not always possible these days. “Two tanneries I closely worked with closed down since I started in 2011. This is making it increasingly difficult to get my hands on good leather.” For him, this “good leather” is a vague thing not to be explained in words. He needs to touch it, to feel it, to smell it to know whether he can work with it or not. “Leather is not pretending to be something it’s not. It’s leather, and it’s here to stay.”

Today, he is living and working in an old smithy that he converted into a loft. It’s a combined workshop, living room and open kitchen, neatly joining all of his passions into one. There he is cooking, there he is working away on his prestigious leathergoods. “I couldn’t be happier”, he beams. And gets back to work on a beautiful leather handbag.

Find out more: www.instagram.com/utauber/

Far from being your usual predictable retro/pin-up artist, Tim Daddio actually reinvents the nostalgic worlds of the fifties. In his illustrations and designs, the 39-year-old Brit brazenly kidnaps well-known archetypes of that period and drags them through the decades until they end up in a rather timeless, sometimes anarchic and always exuberant way. We hooked up with the Bath resident in his Whiltshire studio outside the city and risked a look over his shoulder to the bellowing tunes of Italo Disco. Well, we guess we had it coming.

How did you become an illustrator in the first place?

I was working in hotels up until the age of 24 and desperately wanted a career change. At the same time I was putting on bands in a local club and making my own flyers and posters. I enjoyed making the flyers more than promoting the bands and realised I had a knack for art, even though I dropped it at school long ago. So I applied for a degree in Graphic Design specialising in illustration – and that’s what I studied for the next three years.

How did you become an illustrator in the first place?

I was working in hotels up until the age of 24 and desperately wanted a career change. At the same time I was putting on bands in a local club and making my own flyers and posters. I enjoyed making the flyers more than promoting the bands and realised I had a knack for art, even though I dropped it at school long ago. So I applied for a degree in Graphic Design specialising in illustration – and that’s what I studied for the next three years.

Your inspiration comes from various fields of the fifties: Movies, fashion, Pin-up culture. Why are you so drawn to that decade?

I wear my influences on my sleeve quite literally with what I wear and my artwork is also an extension of those interests. I like showing off the things I’m passionate about. The nuance is I’m particularly drawn to the Eighties-does-Fifties look. I think this comes from having two older sisters who were teenagers in the eighties. They and their various boyfriends made an impression on me.

Is it the fifties in general – or the UK fifties in particular that strike your imagination?

I like things removed from their original source. The English or Italian appropriation of Fifties Americana is probably more interesting to me than what was going on in America at that time. Put that in the context of the Eighties when there was a big Fifties revival and that becomes even more interesting. I’m taking that vibe and making artwork in 2018.

What was so special, so unique back then?

I find awesomeness in every decade of the last century. Stylistically, I have very little passion for anything post 2000. Life is easy though now, we don’t know how good we have it.  I’m not sure I’d be any happier living in another era.

Yet, your work is not retro or nostalgic but in fact quite contemporary…

I think my influences are fairly timeless and there has been a big surge in popularity in the kind of images I produce. I’ve noticed this shift even in the last ten years. Everything relies on culture being recycled now, there is very little room to do anything that hasn’t been done before.

Is Zeitgeist important to you?

I’m not so sure it is. I’ve never attached any meaning or intention to my work in an attempt to capture old imagery in a modern context. It just kinda happens.

Do you want your works to be a social or cultural commentary of your time? Or do you rather want them to be timeless?

Neither. I’m happy that when I die i would have created a lot of images to the best of my ability that will outlive me and that I believe was a valuable use of my time. As I mentioned, my work holds no significance or meaning, it’s purely stuff I find cool. I also avoid calling myself an artist as art requires a meaning. It’s primarily why I studied Illustration as illustration doesn’t have to have any merit apart from fulfilling a function, looking pretty, and hopefully making some money. [laughs]

You live and work in Bath. Is it a good city to be an artist in?

It’s fairly snooty and cliquey.  A hard city to be successful as an artist unless your art ticks certain boxes that please it’s residences. I have exploited the uniqueness and beauty of the place for certain pieces and my aim was always to subvert it’s chocolate-box image and make it appear more seedy and interesting than it is. I spend more time in London than in Bath anyway.

Find out more: www.instagram.com/tim_daddio

It is a truth universally acknowledged by now that glasses are more than just a helpful utensil for those in need. At Willems Eyewear, we perfect and push the boundaries of voguish and a bit flamboyant eyewear that unites technical perfection, fashionable exterior and zeitgeist. Our brand-new Phoenix models reflect these attributes and embody the call of the wild in their striking design.

By unearthing the archetypical aviator, biker and explorer glasses, we pay homage to some of the most iconic designs of the 20^th century, yet interpreting them in a state of the art way. The urban smell of adventure, of freedom and of new horizons is mirrored in these glasses, a means of escapism in the concrete jungle. Just like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes of a bygone and forgotten age, the Phoenix models bring back swagger, style and flair to the stage and interpret them strikingly new.

After the collaboration between Willems Eyewear and the iconic Scottish brand Aeroleather – well known for maybe the most authentic aviator glasses and leather jackets – Willems is taking things one step further, leaving their mark on what are certainly some of the most influential and inspiring pieces of eyewear latest created. Three different models for three different characters, each in their very own way drawn to the unknown, to the wild, to the nostalgia of a time long gone.

B-6, the classic aviator model, boasts a rectangle-shaped metal frame made of thin stainless steel, is galvanized in gun with sideshields made of acetate in black matt. This makeover of the pop culture icon gives rebirth to one of the earliest sunglasses ever, thus continuing the legend of this brand.

B-7, the explorer model, takes the thrill of a voyage across the Arctic back to the city streets. The smell of fresh snow and ice, the feeling of untouched nature and vast streams is what inspired this extraordinary piece of eyewear. It sports a round metal frame made of thin stainless steel and sideshields made of acetate.

And then there is the Grizzly. A style legend, shaped by the infinite freedom of a long and winding road. The Grizzly takes you straight back to the fifties when cafe racers took to the streets to the sound of classic Rock and Roll.

– Nothing like a pair of glasses whispering “The world lies ahead. What are you waiting for?”

Fredrik Bull isn’t your typical Nordic designer. Albeit living in Oslo, the 29 year old artist refuses to use the trodden paths of his renowned precursors. Still being influenced by them, he yet chooses to start from scratch, thus establishing something like the new Nordic wave of design. His works, while firmly rooted within our reality, transmit an almost mystical aura linking the mundane and the magic in an unparalleled way.

How did you become a designer in the first place?

It‘s hard for me to trace back exactly to the point where my fascination started for making objects and working with forms. But I know one thing: I grew up in hotels. My mom and dad managed a couple of them in Norway and I used to help my mom from an early age to arrange flowers or choose art for the hotel. In some sense, it started there, although I only became aware of that in later years.

So you didn’t want to become a designer early on?

No, back then, I wanted to be an architect. I really, really wanted to be one but I felt that I wasn’t good enough. After studying Interior Design I realized that I still wanted to become one which was when I decided to try it nevertheless. I finished my architecture studies with a Bachelor degree and worked in that field for a while. At some point, I felt like the scale was too big and returned to Interior Design. What the heck, now I have two degrees. (chuckles)

What is it that fascinates you about these two fields?

I am fascinated with the entireness of shape and environment. I had the romantic idea of becoming an architect that is also responsible for the interior. A rather holistic approach – I wanted to be able to work on all scales.

Why the three-dimensional bodies? Why not, let’s say, painting?

Good question! I have been drawing all my life. Being a designer can sometimes feel like you’re stuck in creating something that someone is going to use. There is a rationality that can sometimes be very frustrating. But you know, I love Fantasy literature, I love magic. And when I draw, I let that love out. I draw spiders, dragons, creatures… things that I can’t create in everyday situations. Still, the three-dimensional form is extremely fascinating to me. Take sculptures for example – they are compositions that come alive.

How does inspiration work?

Inspiration strikes you at the oddest moments. It’s not something that comes around at 4 pm every day. You know, we have a very strong design history here in Norway. Lots of wood, rational minimalism, that kind of thing. I totally love it myself, but I also feel that I belong to a new generation of designers. We rely too much on what’s already been made. But I don’t get any inspiration from a chair that has already been made. Thus, I try to imagine what would happen to an everyday object like a simple bowl if it would stand on the table of a house in the Shire from “The Lord of the Rings”. Where’s a way to let the magical into the ordinary? That’s how I can trigger my inspiration.

Still, how important is the Nordic tradition to you? Do you want to carry the torch in some sense?

Very important, although I would prefer if everybody would find their own approach to it. To me, carrying the torch means pushing the boundaries. Why would I do something I already know how to do? There is room for new ideas, for developments. We just have to use it.

How much of your work is conscious, how much is subconscious?

I love that question! It’s something I think about all the time – the things that lurk beneath our consciousness, the big enigma. I guess I am not a typical designer who decides to design a chair. He draws sketches, produces a technical drawing, chooses the materials and so on. I, on the other hand, tend to work with my hand. I don’t start with a decision as to what I want to design. I simply decide that I want to work with clay. I just start doing it and see where it will take me. A bit like the Dadaist’s automatic writing, I would say. It’s exhilarating because I never know what I end up with!

Find out more: www.instagram.com/fredrik_bull

I have found my happy place. It‘s called Paul da Serra and is found right in the middle of nowhere. Not that I mind. Quite the opposite, in fact: Everything else would be a distraction! On my travels, I seek calmness, silence and solitude. And here, on a desolate plateau 1,800 metres above the sunny beaches of Madeira, I have it all laid out before me. Secluded and abandoned, the street up here is cutting a bolt upright streak through this dreamlike landscape of old, wind-swept olive trees. They crawl towards me in forms most grotesque, seem to either greet me or warn me. Everything up here is buried under a thick blanket of fog. That’s highly unlikely for everyone who set out for this trip down at the coast, winding up the steep slopes, leaving the summer climate down below. I, however, am instantly falling in love with this place. The fog mutes even the last sounds and limits my visual field. Suddenly, I come across a pack of cows staring at me. The branches are reaching towards me. Everything is mythical, magical, not of this world.

Once I have been a very healthy man. Until, all of a sudden, I got sick. And I didn’t recover to this very day. I have been bitten by a mean little creature called travel bug. And I will never be the same again. The wanderlust, it has been with me ever since. I can’t even recall when exactly it all began. It did, though, and I couldn’t be more happy than when I’m packing my bags and start to travel. And by travel I mean travel: I don’t chill at the pool in some holiday resort, I don’t roam the concrete jungle of a city. No, I get into my car and just drive. It almost doesn’t matter where I go, to be honest, as long as it is straight to the middle of nowhere. Off the beaten path, that’s where you will find me. That’s my definition of travelling. Of freedom.

I don’t need much to be happy. Basically that’s just another lesson I learned while travelling. Dead weight is simply dragging you down. Let go of things and you will walk lighter, breathe freer. One thing I carry with me at all times, though, is my iPhone. It’s the device I use for taking pictures. When I am roaming the mountains, which I do often and with gusto, I find it rather a nuisance to carry around one of those heavy and expensive cameras. That unique ray of light is long gone until I have one of those devices at hand – photography being the art to catch just the right moment. You also need a certain dose of luck, very true. Patience, dexterity and a certain eye for the world don’t harm, too, but you have to be naturally curious as well.

Well, curiosity is my middle name, but I had to learn the hard way that sometimes, being curious can get you into a lot of trouble. As I told you, I prefer hiking in the mountains. Mountains fascinate me, but they also frighten me. This one does, too: It’s name is Kellenspitze and it’s touching the skies in Tannheimer Tal, Austria. 2,238 metres high and steep. Very steep. After an exhausting ascent of three demanding hours we reach the via ferrata that’ll bring us right up to the peak. The weather’s far from stable, but we set out anyway. Up, up, always up. Two hours of laborious climbing make our legs shake and our breath rattle. We persevere, though. And reach the peak the moment a mean fog arises.

Heavy rain sets in, too. It’s as if the two were just waiting to give us a, well, “warm” welcome. The problem is, we don’t know where to go or what to do. We don’t find a path that leads us down the mountain. Rubble, steep cliffs and debris everywhere we look. Due to the fog, we must have missed a turn-off and fight our way down a way too deep slope drenched to the bone. It’s in these moments that you realize what you’re dealing with here. As much as mountains give me, as much as they calm me down and move me: they are still merciless giants not to be messed with. For even if this story may have found a more or less happy ending, I have experienced countless moments in which nature has given me a glimpse of her sheer power. And every time I am on a via ferrata far up in the mountains, clinging to the ropes for dear life, and feeling my legs shake like a sewing machine, I am painfully aware where my place is.

Continue breathing, that’s the key in moments like these. Not always easy, I know, but worthy to be everyone’s top priority. Remaining calm, that’s also what my pictures speak about. I want to express a certain calmness with them – maybe to find that very calmness within me. To breathe freely again, that’s why I am embarking on my travels. And so far, I have found it on all my journeys. On the peak of a solitary mountain as well as on a plateau high above a popular tourist destination. And, ideally, also in everyday life while talking a stroll through the woods at dawn.

Find out more: www.instagram.com/2ndlife1967/

Dirk Fleischmann alias niphisi is a Stuttgart based photographer with a sharp eye for the small wonders in our everyday lives. His view of the world is a decidedly minimalistic one, his captivating works showcase nature in its purest, most inspiring form. What‘s even more impressive, though, is his equipment. Or his anti-equipment, more like: Most of the time, he hunts his themes using only his iPhone. The results are staggeringly beautiful, constantly pampering his 50,000 Instagram followers. He even attracted the attention of prestigious French photographic journal Apologie who were promptly honoring him with a twelve page feature (!) a while back. We spoke to the artist who claims he doesn‘t even have a clue what photography is all about. Curious? You should be!

Why did you choose an iPhone as your photographic weapon of choice?

Simple answer: Me and my wive traveling a lot, often hiking and climbing in the mountains. Dragging a heavy (and expensive!) camera up a steep peak is simply a nuisance and something I try to avoid. Plus, I like to have my camera ready at any point of time. Sometimes, it’s a matter of seconds when the light is just right. And what can I say – I liked the outcome and just continued using my iPhone.

How did you become involved in photography in the first place?

Photography never really was a hobby. I was more of the sports guy. Some years ago, though, we began traveling rather frequently. We prefer stripped-down, simple holidays far away from the tourist masses and seek the loneliness of nature. We set up camp in self-catering holiday homes off the beaten path and explore the surroundings with open eyes. At first, the pictures we took were mostly for our private collection and for our kids who will one day presumably cherish the effort. [chuckles]

Did your friends or family like your photos?

They absolutely did! I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m optometrist with a rather different view of the world. I pay attention to tiny details no one else even notices. What drives me mad, for example, is when a picture has a skew horizon. The horror! And thus, it started and I got more and more absorbed in this field.

And along came Instagram?

Well, not exactly. It all started out as some sort of gag five years ago when I just uploaded a couple of landscape pictures which were received extremely well. The more I took pictures, the more I realized I’m rather into a minimalistic or slightly surreal kind of style. My only problem was I had no clue how to achieve the results I wanted!

Next stop Photoshop?

No, I just fiddled around with a couple of very simple, very basic, very cheap apps. Learning by doing, that’s what I did for quite some time, slowly developing the style I am showcasing today.

And that’s it? An iPhone and some basic apps?!?

That’s it! And from that point on, the number of my Instagram followers grew surprisingly fast.

Why surprisingly?

Well, I am neither a graphic designer nor a photographer. I am only a man with an iPhone. But I learned that I seem to be a guy who notices things nobody else is noticing. I am out and about as often as possible; often, I stumble upon small wonders like a fern with an absolutely adorable raindrop clinging to it. Nothing special, yet a perfect work of art. It’s a shame but too often, people are oblivious to the beauty that surrounds them.

Follow him here: www.instagram.com/niphisi

Get his prints here: www.printler.com/de/fotograf/5799

There are demons in the city of angels, I notice bewildered, as a rather daunting LAPD officer is securing evidence in an act normally only familiar to me from US crime dramas. He, however, is carrying out the task right before my very eyes, in our airbnb apartment! Great, I have not even been in the city for 48 hours and already got robbed. But let me tell you this story from the start while my photographer colleagues are still absorbed in talking to that charming policeman.

It is, however, also a dream come true for thieves to stumble upon three photographer friends travelling with equipment worth more that we’d like to admit. One hour in a diner around the corner was enough for them to break into our apartment and mug us like there’s no tomorrow. What to do? We could of course have given up there and now. We could have taken the next flight home. This, however, would be the first failed project in my career. And anyway: Wasn’t this America, the land of endless possibilities?

Precisely! And it is the land of endless helpfulness, too: The nice bunch of male actors living next door went to get us some coffee first and invited us over – the result being a story that is only possible in Hollywood: One of those guys, it turns out, is from the drama series “Suits” and good friends with Meghan Markle, newly wed to Prince Harry! That flat here was even hers some years back, which is why he first thought we were paparazzi when he saw us arriving with all our stuff. No, we’re not. But cool story, bro!

From this point, we decide on just going with the flow. ‘Everything happens for a reason’ becomes this trip’s mantra. And a good mantra it is: We equip ourselves in a pawn shop and are finally ready to roll. One of us is shooting some bands in legendary Rock club Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip where The Doors or Alice Cooper began their stellar careers. And although I don’t know if the musicians present that night will make the cut, they’re still cool, handsome and totally chilled. But then again, everybody is around here. The dreams here are still bigger than elsewhere. The standards are, too, but that keeps nobody from dreaming. Boy, I can’t even tell you how much this is firing my imagination!

Still, it’s harder than I thought to get some models in front of my camera. I know how paradoxical this must sound in a city like this. But it is, trust me. Permissions, model releases, forms… a lot of bureaucratic hassle that just won’t fit into that picture of palm trees, beauties and perpetual coolness here in La La Land. Thus, I do the only right thing to do: I go to a bar in Venice Beach, have a couple Gin and Tonics and just wait and see what this city has in store for me. Just like everybody else is doing. As I said earlier: Go with the flow. And the flow is flowing: In no time I chat with a guy who wants to participate in an open mic night and would make a fab model for glasses. And right after that, I run into a beautiful girl from Bosnia-Herzegovina who is – Californian fate hitting hard – a model with some free time on her hands! I shoot her literally right before my flight back on Hollywood Boulevard and think my myself: This must be it. This must be this weird magic of Hollywood that has been drawing people to the stunning West Coast for more than a century.

When I take off from LAX International Airport, leaving this enormous city below me, I have that special feeling: It won’t be the last time for me! But however charming they might have been: Next time I’m here I don’t necessarily need the company of the LAPD boys. But then again: Who else did a selfie with an LA officer in full uniform?

Credit: Stephanie Trenz https://trenz-fotografie.com/

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