My practice explores the poetry and aesthetics of our everyday world, as well as urban and social environments. Moving between documentary and a more contemplative, abstract register, I seek the instant where observer and observed merge.

Born in Rotterdam in 1971, I spent years at sea as a tall ship captain before transitioning to maritime management and aviation. In 2015, the Sebastião Salgado documentary The Salt of the Earth inspired me to pick up my first camera. A need to slow down eventually brought me to Portugal, where photography has gradually settled at the centre of my daily life.

Following my first exhibition in 2025, I am currently preparing a second at a local art gallery. I shoot primarily with Canon mirrorless, blending modern lenses with some cherished vintage glass, and have recently begun exploring analogue film.

Karsten Seven