What gives your life meaning?
What gives your life meaning? I have to admit, that I haven't found my answer yet, but I want to figure out what it is for me. Because the life I used to lead was not the life that made me feel content. For years I have reproduced learned values and standards which I believed were mine. When I felt more miserable everyday I decided to change. Everything. To dare to become a white sheet of paper, which longs to be filled with ideas, concepts, plans. I left everything I could behind to see what I will find by traveling for a year, which at the moment led me to live in Barcelona, - and part of the journey is this project.
​
As a photographer and storyteller I'm eager to know: What is it that gives meaning to people's lives? What motivates them, keeps them going? The answer can be anything and everything. It is so different for every person and also changes throughout life time. It also depends on the individual approach of life based on personal experiences, circumstances, cultures, family shaped expectations and values, social and political systems. So there's surely a lot to learn from other people's perspectives. And sometimes there is no answer at all to be found (yet), which is also okay.
​
So I started the project "What gives your life meaning?" to ask, to listen and to share these stories. Here you will find more and more pictures and video-interviews of people I met along the way. What I already realized is that it's not necessary common to ask oneself that question and even privileged, because many people are not even in the position to think about what would make their lives (more) fulfilling. So I am grateful to explore and share new insights of and with others here.
Maya from Shanghai, China
I met Maya (35) at a language school in Barcelona in June 2025. With her direct, caring and bold nature she impressed me as soon as we started talking more and I'm glad to say we became dear friends. Maya planned to spend a year in Barcelona to 'escape' from her country where she was confronted with social expectations from an early age, like being good at school, finding a respected job, getting married as soon as possible, fulfilling household duties, starting a family.
But she wanted something different for her life. She says: "There is no wrong or right answer to life, the course of life is only experience." She masters her life with bravery and trust in herself to handle every situation. Eventually she found herself in a foreign country with a language she didn't speak well yet and a completely different culture to make new experiences she later could think about when she was old, while sitting in a rocking chair and looking back on her life.
Adam from Providence, USA
'You're such a clown' - these words can be a put down to many people but to Adam (60) they are a badge of honor, because he is. For more than thirty years he has dedicates himself as a professional clown and performer to bring joy to peoples lives, amaze them, make them laugh and sometimes think, despite or maybe just because he himself had experienced some difficult times at a young age.
​
I met Adam at a gathering for writers in Barcelona in June 2025. When he introduced himself as 'Adam the clown' I knew immediately that I wanted to get to know more about his passion.
At university Adam faced a pivotal choice. His dad wanted him to become a lawyer, but he wanted to go into the theatre. He went to a professor to seek for advice, who then asked him: 'What does the world need more, a lawyer or an artist?' Adam gave the theatre a chance, became a physical comedian and later got into clowning. Today he says: "Laughter is important, but even if nobody laughed, I would still be a clown. What art is about is sharing connection and there is always meaning and joy in it."