Nobel:Arbeiter des Meeres

For centuries, the workers of the seas have shaped the coastal areas of our planet: fishermen, seaweed gatherers, crab fishers, lighthouse keepers, seacoalers, and many others. Through their labor, they have influenced the culture of marine regions. They feed the world with their fish, crabs, seaweed, and shellfish. Approximately 20 percent of humanity's protein needs come from the sea. However, global warming, ocean pollution, and industrial fishing have severely impacted these sea workers. In many places, they can no longer make a living from their catches. More and more of them are only able to pursue the work of their ancestors as a side job and sentimental family tradition. Over the past 30 years, I have accompanied many of these individuals in their often spectacular and not entirely safe work across several continents. My aim is to create a photographic monument to them and preserve something of their efforts, which have become the material for countless great novels, epics, poems, and paintings.