Armin and Yanti Petani building their new home, Riau Area,  Sumatra, Indonesia 10/2013, Series: Reading the Landscape
Armin and Yanti Petani building their new home, Riau Area, Sumatra, Indonesia 10/2013, Series: Reading the Landscape

For more than 30 years now, landscape photography constitutes the main topic of my photographic work. I am especially interested in documenting the visible traces of human overpopulation left behind in nature. It’s these traces that make clear how exactly we treat our planet. After thorough research, I usually work a couple of years on one specific topic, to then publish my results in form of a book. The single image is of great importance, but it’s sequences that allow to tell an in depth story. I think of myself as artist as well as eyewitness to the changes of our time that are important to me. I read the landscape and record what I find to be truly remarkable.

Human overpopulation is causing resources like food, energy, raw materials, land and water to become increasingly scarce. The earth we live on, though, only offers limited space for this growth. In the future, the international community will be forced to join together to solve these growing problems. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go in working together globally. At the same time, the consequences of overpopulation are becoming visible ever more clearly and readily throughout the world. The signs that can be found in landscapes are what interest me. I try to produce images that act as poetic images and documentation of processes at the same time and are relevant to all of us.