About the Artist

Matt Schoenfelder

$I was born in Washington D.C. and traveled extensively in the United States before setting my sights on Europe at the age of 21. The budget was tight; a one-way ticket and 500$. Although I had roughly planned to be gone for 6-8 weeks, I found work along the way and one continent led to the next with each answer I stumbled upon providing yet another list of questions to be pursued. <br /> <br /> Using a camera that my father gave me at the airport the day I left America, I attempted to record the beauty and wonder i was experiencing. The initial results were dissappointing. The images appeared flat and lifeless in comparison and it became clear that in the best of cases I could only capture but a fraction of the grandeur that my eyes were able to take in, and that nothing would ever compare to the magic of the moment.<br /> <br /> New horizons continued to beckon, I continued to make pictures and I continued to be dissappointed. 15 years, 80 countries and 7 cameras later, the journey is far from over and I continue to make pictures and I continue to be dissappointed by them! At this point however I have learned to appreciate the disappointment as it fuels me to try harder and to look deeper for the essence of a given subject. I consider perfection to be unattainable and fleeting at best but yet I find a certain beauty in trying again and again to reach it. This site contains some of the better attempts. There isn't a single image that is as perfect as the subject that it attempts to describe but I am not done trying, and I hope I never will be.$
I was born in Washington D.C. and traveled extensively in the United States before setting my sights on Europe at the age of 21. The budget was tight; a one-way ticket and 500$. Although I had roughly planned to be gone for 6-8 weeks, I found work along the way and one continent led to the next with each answer I stumbled upon providing yet another list of questions to be pursued.

Using a camera that my father gave me at the airport the day I left America, I attempted to record the beauty and wonder i was experiencing. The initial results were dissappointing. The images appeared flat and lifeless in comparison and it became clear that in the best of cases I could only capture but a fraction of the grandeur that my eyes were able to take in, and that nothing would ever compare to the magic of the moment.

New horizons continued to beckon, I continued to make pictures and I continued to be dissappointed. 15 years, 80 countries and 7 cameras later, the journey is far from over and I continue to make pictures and I continue to be dissappointed by them! At this point however I have learned to appreciate the disappointment as it fuels me to try harder and to look deeper for the essence of a given subject. I consider perfection to be unattainable and fleeting at best but yet I find a certain beauty in trying again and again to reach it. This site contains some of the better attempts. There isn't a single image that is as perfect as the subject that it attempts to describe but I am not done trying, and I hope I never will be.
I am continually inspired by the beauty of the Earth and her creations. The grace and magic of a smile, the undefeatable human spirit shining against all odds, or the serenity and eternity of a mountain lake at twilight; these are some of the moments in which I am reminded of just how incredible it is to be alive. And to convey that feeling, just once, is perhaps more satisfying than having experienced it all.

Base Camp is currently in Berlin, Germany.

Captions:
On the descent of Parchamo with Mount Everest in the distance to the right. Rolwaling Himal, Nepal (above)

My wife Jana and I in Pushkar, India (right).

Living Earth Impressions

About the Artist

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