Exploring the human condition through words and photography

I am a writer, photographer and long-distance wanderer. I was born in Berlin and have spent much of my life somewhere else. My adventure started in London and continued through Oslo, South America and now here: northern Spain.

Here I write mostly about people, about villages and life situations, about the time I spend walking through life. I write about people I know and those I love, and others I may have met only once. Sometimes these are places I visit briefly and places where I may have settled for a while, like now in Galicia. As a writer, I make use of my vivid imagination and the encounters I have along the way, and so some of what I tell happened and some most definitely did not. Much of it is probably somewhere in between. It does not really matter when telling a story, writing a poem or a vignette (Sketch). The camera comes along for much the same reason. I like to look at people, listen to them and sometimes simply watch while looking through the lens.

And then there is walking. Probably the most beautiful source available to me when writing or photographing. I have walked thousands of kilometres, mostly on the old pilgrimage roads through Spain, but also in Italy and Germany. My stories, photographs and correspondence are about life as I find it laid out in front of me. Love and loss, places, friendship, separation and war. People coming and people going.

Now I live and write in Santiago de Compostela.

If you like to work with me, write me a few lines: correspondence@svenkaven.com