Reflecting on the root causes of my interest in photography, I always come back to the same point: there is some mysterious transformation in the way my brain works, when I look at the world while holding a camera, it is as if I’m becoming my alternative self.

When you leave your busy, everyday mind at rest, and you open up your perception to visual experiences, you suddenly become receptive to what you see, without forcibly analyzing the chain of cause and effect events. In this mental frame, suddenly you notice, that photography can become effortless, because when a worthwhile scene presents itself, you can recognize it instantly, and it feels, like the photograph tells you: “Here I am, take me!”.

This photograph is one of my favourites of 2013. It was just one of these moments of grace, when the light, the background and the subject came together in a magic moment of sheer joy. Taken in Menton.