Interests

Photography and astronomy are two sides of the same curiosity for me: look closely, wait, recognise the right moment. Both demand patience, technical understanding and a feeling for light – and both ultimately produce images that can be evaluated.

Astrophotography combines the two particularly neatly: tracking, exposure series and stacking are, at heart, nothing other than data capture and processing – only with stars instead of tables.

Reading is for me the quietest way to gain new perspectives – from non-fiction on science and technology to literary fiction. Writing is the counter-movement: only once I can write a thought down do I know whether I have understood it.

That practice pays off directly at work: an analysis is only finished when its message can be stated in two clear sentences.

Sport clears the head and provides the balance to screen work. When travelling, I am less interested in ticking off destinations than in immersing myself: how do people live elsewhere, how is their everyday life organised?

In 2024 I combined that inclination with the offshore sailing licence – navigation, passage planning and command under sail are a school in thinking ahead and staying calm.

Cooking is applied chemistry with an immediate result – and the finest reason to bring people together around a table. I like to cook seasonally, experiment with techniques and enjoy it when simple ingredients turn into something special.

Culture – music, exhibitions, theatre – belongs inseparably to that for me: both are ways of paying attention.