I’m Michel.

Born in Romania, grew up in Luxembourg, now based in Zurich.

I’m a 29-year-old registered nurse, almost acute care nurse and
a photographer at the beginning of my journey, which doesn’t mean I don’t already photograph like a master.

I worked on the burn intensive care unit at University Hospital Zurich. It is also where my belief grew that unphotogenic does not exist. What we perceive as beauty often depends on the angle from which the photographer observes, and on a fraction of a second in which a person reveals an expression that is already there, one that only needs to be noticed and held. It is found in glances, smiles, presence, the eyes and not in a constructed or so-called “model look”.
Nor in the constant display of bodies reduced to six-packs, bulges, or sexualised poses, regardless of the moment or context.
This is not beauty. At its core, it marks the beginning of pornography.
It’s unfortunate that we are often taught to mistake this for true beauty.
Allow me to show you the opposite.

However, photography became a counterbalance to the sometimes devastating realities of my work. Of course, I have witnessed extraordinary recoveries and moments that feel close to miracles, yet it is often the tragic experiences that remain most deeply in memory. Photography gives me balance and reminds me that there is more than despair.

Today, I work on the D-Hoer unit, an internal medicine intensive care unit, the coolest team in the hospital. Interestingly, I used to say exactly the same when I worked in burn intensive care, which would suggest that the common factor might be me.

But who am I to decide?