A photographer and painter born in Munich was brought up in Switzerland and completed a four-year apprenticeship in printing and block-making in Bern, giving him a wide knowledge of color. While he had always wanted to paint, photography initially captured his imagination and led him to London by way of Paris and New York, influenced by photographers like Alfred Stieglitz. In London, he began reportage and fashion photography for magazines and was later spotted by the advertising industry, leading him to create over twelve hundred campaigns and establishing himself as one of the most prolific and successful in the industry, winning over a hundred awards.