I was born in 1949 in Germany where I lived until I graduated from high school. I moved to the south of France at 18 years of age where I studied art and religion at the university. I also began to explore my passion for photography which was fostered by my father early in my life.
In the search for a personal expression I was looking more and more “inside” which brought me in contact with spiritual teachers, mainly in India. This was followed by intensive travelling and “a time of internal searching which inspired a large body of photographic work.
Eventually I joined a community in Oregon, founded by my teacher from India, and I met my future partner, Julia Williams. After a short stay in Japan we decided to settle in Hawaii where we created a place totally off the grid. It also became an expression of our esthetic ambitions. Photography took a secondary place during those years. Landscaping and building became the focus and the way of our artistic expressions. During that time many others joined in and had the possibility to express themselves in the similar ways. We published a book called “Halemano“ with my photographs recording the process of this joint creation.
After more than 27 years in Hawaii my partner and I decided to move to New Mexico. Here we started collaborating on works of art that combined my photography with Julia’s collages and paintings. However, we each continue to also work in our individual media.
My exploration of “Reality “ through photography continues. Athough I have worked in digital photography for the last years, I recently started incorporating analog photography again.
Artist Statement
After successfully finishing school I studied art and religion in Germany while living in the south of France. Photography was my primary focus, particular landscape and nature photography. Together with a friend of mine I had my first exhibition in Germany.
Intensive travel to Asia followed which created a big body of work mainly in black and white which included long hours in the darkroom. Once the quality of digital photography improved I started working in color which I do to this day.
After moving to New Mexico I initially work exclusively digitally, and I am printing and finishing my own pictures. Recently, analog photography became again part of my work which is driven by a sense of “purity.“
In my work, I am drawn by the unknown. From within the beauty of chaos, I encourage the viewer to enter the mystery and beauty which appear in the photograph – mainly in nature - animated by light and shadow, creating textures and patterns.
Siddho
