Travel

Travel, the spirit of life
Frank Lloyd Wright
Photo / Video
Time-lapse

Travel, the spirit of life

Travel is the best way to broaden your horizons and to see and understand different lifestyles and different ways of looking at life.
It changes your life. You meet people who grew up in different societies and under different circumstances. It teaches tolerance and greatly increases your knowledge and understanding of people, countries and the world.
My girlfriend and I want to see as much of the world as possible, but not at any price. Many countries are not destinations for us because of wars, unrest or security problems.

The restless traveller gathers countless impressions and experiences. Even negative experiences add to what you have seen and experienced as a human being. Nobody can take these impressions away from you.
Many people in affluent countries do not appreciate the standards they enjoy. Not only in terms of money, but also in terms of freedom, security, education, food, etc. Those of us who grow up in prosperous countries and enjoy the freedom to travel will learn to appreciate these privileges through intensive travel.
The dissatisfaction and negative attitudes of some people could vanish quickly if they travelled a few days to the many corners of the world that are less fortunate. It would broaden their horizon and could be very educational. The confrontation with friendly, warm, intelligent people who are denied these opportunities is humbling.

Through fortunate circumstances, I was able to travel to many countries, including many less common destinations.

When I think back to various journeys, my head is flooded with impressions, so many indescribably beautiful places, cultures, and people I was lucky enough to encounter in person and see with my own eyes.

What matters more to me is what I have seen; the impressions and experiences. I have visited many countries multiple times. The goal is travelling, not counting countries. It is not my goal to travel to every country in the world just to say I have been everywhere. After all, national borders are merely lines drawn on maps, often arbitrarily, shaped by centuries of politics, wars, and historical accidents rather than by geography, culture, or anything meaningful to a traveller. Crossing such a line does not automatically make the experience more valuable, nor does staying on one side make it less so. A country is a political unit, not a measure of what there is to discover. Some countries are enormous, encompassing vastly different landscapes, cultures, and experiences, while others can be explored in a matter of days. Spending a few hours in one corner of a vast country and then ticking it off as "visited" seems rather meaningless to me. You may have crossed its border, but you have barely begun to discover it. Too many countries are problematic for political or security reasons. And just to have been there? There are countless other corners of the world worth exploring. Nevertheless, exotic and remote destinations hold a magical appeal for me, too. All the more so when they are steeped in history. Pitcairn is a perfect example: a destination that attracts both those who simply want to tick another destination off their list and those who are fascinated by its history. Over time, however, I have come to realize that I have visited some regions several times or even very often. The regions I have returned to most frequently are the South Pacific, Antarctica, Chile & Argentina, England, Spain, and the USA.

Frank Lloyd Wright

I consciously saw a Frank Lloyd Wright house (the famous US architect) for the first time in 2017. It was Fallingwater, on my way to Pittsburgh. My fascination with his work has stayed with me ever since.
In Mai 2026, I visited many of his houses, stayed overnight at the Curtis Meyer House, and saw many private houses that are not open to the public, always with full respect for the owners’ privacy.

My girlfriend and I were so captivated by the houses that, only a few weeks later, we flew to Chicago again and travelled through Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Fortunately, we were able to stay in four more Frank Lloyd Wright houses: the Palmer House, the Goetsch-Winckler House, the Lindholm House and the Woodside House. We also visited more than 20 other FLW houses, some on regular tours, some on private tours, as well as two privately owned homes.

We met incredibly friendly, enthusiastic and dedicated people on our trips. I have also had the privilege of being invited by the owners into several private homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for which I am extremely grateful.
Fortunately, in 2026 we also had the opportunity to admire several of Frank Lloyd Wright’s works in Japan: the Yodokō Guest House, the Myonichikan of Jiyu Gakuen, and the from mostly original parts reconstructed lobby of the Imperial Hotel at Meiji-Mura. At the present-day Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, the Imperial Bar still incorporates several original elements from Wright’s building, and the entire bar is a wonderful homage to FLW. Sooner or later, an interest in Frank Lloyd Wright naturally leads to the work of his students and collaborators as well. At Koshien Kaikan, very friendly Mr. Yoshinori Hirano (平野義典), a First-Class Architect and head of the architecture department, gave us an exceptionally informative and enjoyable private tour of the building known today as Koshien Hall. We were even allowed onto the roof. This remarkable masterpiece was designed by Arata Endo, and Wright’s enormous influence is immediately apparent.
Arata Endo (遠藤新, 1889–1951) worked closely with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and the two also collaborated on the Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan. Endo was also involved in the Yodokō Guest House, originally the private residence known as the Yamamura House.

This brings the number of FLW houses we have visited so far to 34, and this is hopefully only the beginning.

In 2027 I plan to explore FLW's work in the western United States together with my girlfriend.

By now, I have collected quite a few Frank Lloyd Wright inspired books and items, including Taliesin lamps. It would be wonderful to buy and own one of his houses and truly take care of it, preserving it properly for the future. Unfortunately, the distance and the time required to look after such a property would be a real challenge.

Photo / Video

After the first ten years, about 100,000 pictures and video clips had been sold, and my collection grew to several thousand time-lapse videos and millions of pictures totalling more than 100 TB.
In the early years of stock photography, so-called macrostock was a big market. Later, it changed, and now only a tiny fraction of my portfolio is listed at some microstock agencies.
Many of my time-lapse videos are shown on TV, in motion pictures, video productions, commercials, and on websites.
Pictures are used for many purposes, including websites, books, magazines and advertisements.

Some examples of my work

Footage: pond5 shutterstock
Stock photography: shutterstock adobe stock / fotolia
For many years, I have not uploaded new pictures or time-lapse videos.

Time-lapse

Time-lapse is fascinating. It offers endless creativity and possibilities for the photographer.

It started as a hobby. Many years ago, there were not many tools for producing time-lapse videos. Today, many cameras support time-lapse photography and countless tools are available. It is now easy to find information on the internet, and many mobile phones have a time-lapse function.

When I started time-lapse photography, I had to research everything myself. Experimenting was necessary.

Any form of reprint or reproduction (including excerpts) only with written permission.