bio

I was born in 1965 in Zürich, Switzerland. I grew up around a lot of sports, finding my way into competitive rowing and team handball. At the same time, I developed a passion for photography, the mystery of negative film, the printing, the fumes in the darkroom. In 1983, I completed my baccalaureate at Gymnasium Freudenberg and went on to study English Literature and Linguistics at the University of Zürich. Over time, my continuously growing interest in the visual arts led me to work as an assistant to commercial/fashion photographer Günther Kathrein and, a year later, to enroll in the film program at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.

After graduating from SFU in 1993 I started working as a Director of Photography in both the drama- and the documentary world.  My primary passion for cinematography is rooted in an ambition to capture the tone of a story and the emotions of its characters through images that are compelling and unique. I love the creative process that surrounds this mandate, the teamwork, the various layers of collaboration, the diversity presented by each project, both visually and logistically. I appreciate the complexities and responsibilities that are part of my job, and I value clarity and ease in my interactions with others.

Furthermore, I have dual citizenship with Switzerland and Canada, I am bilingual in English and German, and somewhat proficient in French. I am eligible to work in the EU, and I love to combine travel with work!

awards and publications

1991 winner of the Norman McLaren Award for Best Short Film “Round the Corner”

1997 publication in march issue of American Cinematographer: this article was written on my work on the feature film “Kitchen Party”.

1999 nomination for a Golden Sheaf Award at Yorkton Film Festival for Best Cinematography in a short film “Keys to Kingdom”

1999 winner of the Best Cinematography Award at Broadway Theatre FilmCan Festival for the feature film “Rollercoaster”

2000 nomination for LEO Award for Best Cinematography in a feature film “Rollercoaster”

2000 nomination for LEO Award for Best Cinematography in a feature film “A Girl is a Girl”

2000 nomination for LEO Award for Best Cinematography in a short film “Liberato”

2002 nomination for LEO Award for Best Cinematography in a feature film “The Overcoat”

2002 nomination for Gemini Award for Best Cinematography for the feature film “The Overcoat”

2017 nomination for LEO Award for Best Cinematography for Series ICE, Season 1