‘Bonheur sur Mer’ could be translated by ‘Bliss by the Sea’ and is more than just a name.

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Even though I was born and raised far away from it - in Bayreuth, a small German town in Northern Bavaria close to the former Iron Curtain - the sea has always been present in my life. For me, it is like a living being. I like everything about the sea. When it is kind and quiet, but also when it gets angry and moody. It is full of energy and power.

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During childhood my parents would take me and my sister for summer holidays on the other side of the Alps. Those weeks spent in a tent close to the Mediterranean, in Italy or one of the countries that then formed Yugoslavia, kindled a longing and love for the sea that would never go away.
One summer, when I was a small boy, I almost drowned when the waves carried me away from the beach. I will never forget the panic I felt until my father came to my rescue, but my love for the sea has always been stronger than that traumatic experience.

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After my studies in another German town, Heidelberg, I moved to Brussels, Belgium, where I worked as a conference interpreter. The European capital is a city without rivers or lakes. Fortunately, the North Sea is only a stone’s throw away.

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During the Covid19 pandemic escaping to the Belgian coast early on Saturday mornings and watching the sun rise certainly helped me keep my sanity.
I was lucky and got through these trying times quite well. I realised, however, that my time in Brussels was coming to an end. I moved on, finally to a place where the sea is literally never more than a few kilometres away.

 

Although I had been coming to the Maltese Islands for almost thirty years, resettling during the still ongoing pandemic proved difficult. Once again the sound of the waves, the rising and setting of the sun over the water and the ever changing shades of blue and green of the Mediterranean would bring me tranquillity.
So it is not surprising that the sea appears in many of my photographs. 
I invite you to take a dip into my new world and hope that I can make you see the beauty of the islands through my eyes.

I am a linguist, but I have always enjoyed taking pictures, even as a young boy, and later attended photography classes both online and in the classroom.
The creative and technical process of making postcards has been both satisfying and challenging. I would not have been able to make ‘Bonheur sur Mer’ come true on my own.

My special thanks go to my niece Alessandra and my friend Anna-Maria.