I was born in a small town in Germany called Eschwege which was first recorded in 974 CE as Eskinivvach. In German it means "die Siedlung bei den Eschen am Wasser" or in English, "the settlement by the ash trees along the water. In earliest times this region was also known as the Great Forest. Its inhabitants, the Chatti tribe, were an ancient Celtic/Germanic tribe first mentioned by the Roman writer Strabo in 16 CE. Many ancient Celtic artefacts have been found in this area and are now in our local museum.
The word "Heimat" in German on one level means "homeland" but at another deeper level it also means "home of the soul."
Whenever I return to Eschwege there is a sense of coming home to some very ancient roots. My soul feels welcome here. The river, the mountains and especially the forests are all part of my inner landscape. Even before I had a camera I would take pictures with my eyes so that I could recall the images of this terrain. Wherever I travelled in the world home was always with me. Even in the parched desert I was home for a river was flowing through me.
Each soul has a landscape which it remembers.
This image is a reminder to visually imprint the land of your deeper roots into the landscape of your soul. This will always be a touchstone for your photography.