Before entering university Stefan decided to travel and explore the world, an experience that, in later years, would have a profound effect upon his photography. During his travels, he was intrigued by the depth and breadth of the cultural differences he discovered, and by the norms and values which seemed in such stark contrast to those absorbed in his early life.
Stefan’s work stands out for its sense of curiosity and amazement, and its childlike wonder at the world. This is evident, for example, in his provocative photographs of the everyday lives of marginalised communities and the young musicians and artists they produce. Ethiopia, Kenya, Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, South Africa, Mozambique and Brazil, all became more than just places on a map or names on a young explorer’s list. His need to understand the communities he discovered on his travels, and what it meant to be human led him to a study of sociology and cultural anthropology. In 2013, he left London Imperial College with a Master's Degree in Public Health & Epidemiology.
It was his love for photography that helped him find his life's purpose. The camera became his most important tool of expression, and led him to develop his technical skills further with courses in photography at the Arts University of Bournemouth. It was, however, while participating in a photography workshop in Miami, hosted by Alex and Rebecca Norris Webb, that changed the way he sees light, colour and the layers of the world.
In a world desensitised by a constant barrage of shocking images, Stefan’s photography offers people respite from an unrelenting exposure to misery and suffering. In his intimate portraits of street children and former juvenile prisoners in Sierra Leone, he provides a reason to linger. His photographs declare that we have more in common as human beings than the superficial differences in our circumstances would suggest. Stefan's work is a delicate mixture of candid photography and planned portraiture. It is a work of patience in which he waits to capture that intimate moment in the everyday lives of his subjects, when they let down their guard and reveal their humanity.
It is Stefan’s intention that by bringing people into focus, places in Africa and elsewhere can move past a negative narrative and into a future filled with hope. Stefan is based in Dakar where he continues to work on personal projects and commissions, taking photographs that remind us of our shared humanity.
Publications
Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, The New York Times, GEO (Germany), The Guardian (UK), BBC (UK), The Financial Times (UK), Society Magazine (France), SoFoot - Soccer Magazine (France), BJP - British Journal of Photography; and freelance work for Associated Press, Bloomberg, EPA, ZumaPress.
Honors
2024 Winner of the Life Framer Competition ‘Night Life’
2017 Eddie Adams Workshop XXX, Alumni
2017 LensCulture Exposure Awards, Finalist