Technology and business tend to be the main topics that I write about, but my photo assignments have taken me in many directions. Some of my favorite topics are below. For more, please see my photo website. Thank you for your interest!
Suddenly, the buzz dies down and the hives are empty: a mysterious phenomenon dubbed “Colony Collapse Disorder” is threatening the livelihood of bees, as well as the future of many fruits and vegetables. Bees, after all, are needed as pollinators for much of what you see at your local supermarket. Alongside my Swiss colleague Katja Schaer, I headed out to almond orchards near Modesto, California, to meet with beekeeper John Miller of Miller Honey Farms.
He used to be in Hollywood, he used to be a star. Now he lives in Pasadena – and is still a star. I visited Tarzan’s old friend Cheeta for an article in the Financial Times Germany and also shot a video for stern.de. More images here.
These days, technology advances at a speed that’s hard to keep up with. And at some point sooner rather than later, progress in IT, biotech, nanotech and other fields will converge and eclipse the capacities of the human mind – welcome to the point of the “singularity,” as defined by author and inventor Ray Kurzweil. Intrigued, Google and other investors provided seed money for the Singularity University. I got a chance to follow the first class in 2009 for a couple of days and witness their graduation. See a larger selection of images here.
More and more American cities try to revitalize downtown and foster healthier communities by supporting urban farming. California is, naturally, at the forefront of this trend. I visited several farms and urban farmers in Oakland with my colleague Laetitia Mailhes for an article in French daily Libération. Extended gallery here.
San Francisco was home to Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and other famous poets of the Beat Generation – so it makes sense that there’s a whole museum dedicated to them and their work. Right next to the Beat Museum is the legendary book store City Lights. More here.
Behind the scenes at social gaming pioneer Zynga: I had a chance to take a closer look at the maker of Farmville, Bubble Safari and other popular games for a company profile in the German trade publication Gamesmarkt. If you’d like to play a little more, a full gallery is here.