It started several decades ago, to be precise it was in 1975, driving the overland route to India in my VW van from Germany, my first Minolta SR-T 303 at hand, photographing the Hazara people in central Afghanistan and the Bamiyan Buddhas, now lost to religious extremism. I’d do roll upon roll, not knowing till I got into the dark room if I had that one-in-a-million, or if the whole lot was spoilt.

Years later I found myself in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India, photographing the Badagas, Todas and Irulas tribes, and by strange contrast doing interviews with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina and her rival Khaleda Zia, and with the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and her daughter Chandrika who later became President. I also met and photographed almost all the prime ministers who followed in quick succession the fall of the Panchayat system established by King Mahendra in Nepal... In between  came pictures and assignments from every corner of this fascinating continent as well as from other region of the world in Africa or South America.

Now, with digital, I have a wider palette, a greater range of possibilities in the moment. And the people and places that I try to capture continue to inspire a myriad of images. My pictures reflect tradition in the midst of change, conflict and diversity, the young and the very old; habitats and happenings infused with an intensity of colour.

The photographs from Asia as well as from Africa, South America, the Middle East or Europe shown here are part of my picture library of nearly one million images.

Please also refer to a website dedicated to my hometown Dortmund.

More images also on pixelfed.

Introducing myself (in German only) / Einen längeren deutsch-sprachigen Text über mich finden Sie hier

For further details: walter.keller@yahoo.de