A Brief Inquiry Into the Muc Years - Street Photography Exhibition
“Capture the moment or carefully compose”? is one of photography's most asked questions and a proper “chicken and egg problem” dilemma as one thing implies the other without a clear hierarchy. In street photography a lot of big names when asked will say that capturing the moment is king and I have to agree to that statement. The genre is all about something interesting being recorded by a digital sensor or film. However, I am a big fan of a clean and perfectly composed image. Ultimately my final verdict is that both are eually needed pillars with a perfect balance of 60/40 between an interesting moment and visual balance in the composition.
This balance was the foundation behind “A brief Inquiry into the Muc Years”, my first ever street photography exhibition which took place between the 18th and the 21st of June 2025 at Graf Rumford (Munich). It’s my first exhibition and it definitely takes some courage to display your pictures in public, not just on social media. In this blog post we will go through the themes of the exhibition, re-creating the visual flow of it in written form.
Let’s start with the title of the exhibition. It’s an homage to A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships by The 1975, one of my favorite albums. It talks about modern dating and growing into adulthood through experiences that are often uncomfortable, but at the same time unforgettable. That really resonated with me during the second half of my 20s in Germany, after taking the leap and moving abroad. This exhibition is my love letter to Munich and the people I met there over the last four years. It also represents the 10 to 20K steps per weekend I walked around with my camera. Street photography is about catching the right moment and that takes light, action, positioning, luck… and a whole lot of steps.
There are five themes in the exhibition:
1. Oktoberfest:
Nothing says Munich quite like Oktoberfest. It not only represents a moment where everyone in town is celebrating no matter their social status, but also an incredible visual playground of lights, shadow, shapes and photo opportunities. This theme includes three photos: the first is a vibrant daytime shot with postcard vibes, followed by two nighttime shots taken just one minute apart in September 2023, which was my first walk using the lovely Fujifilm 18mm F1.4. The man in traditional Bavarian attire complete with hat, ended up on the exhibition poster as his silhouette perfectly captured the spirit of Munich.
2. Olympiapark / Olympic Village:
This area of Munich feels like a glimpse into the future as imagined in the late ’60s: bold architecture, color-coded details and the first-ever Olympic pictograms designed by Otl Aicher for the 1972 Games. The design language still feels striking today and it’s by far my favourite area of town as it’s so unique. The architecture blends late modernist and utopian ideals, with elements reminiscent of brutalism, while maintaining a human scale and a surprising sense of cohesion and functionality.
You’ll see two of my favorite shots here: one of a guy on a longboard gliding through the narrow alleys and village shops, and another of someone heading back from a run in the suspended parking structures near the village. The last photo is a sunset scene from August 2023, taken the evening before I flew to Copenhagen with my brother. The guy in the frame is tipping his cap in a “thank you, sir” gesture, a small moment that made the shot feel unexpectedly special.
3. Residenz / Maximilianstraße:
Here are two night shots: one of the Residenz Theatre and another looking down Maximilianstraße, taken in 2024 and 2022. To me, Max-Joseph-Platz is even more beautiful than Marienplatz. The façades, especially the Königsbau wing of the Residenz, inspired by Florence’s Palazzo Pitti, are giving the square a sculptural feel. Maximilianstraße, one of Munich’s royal avenues, is a favorite spot of mine for pictures with its Neo-Gothic symmetry and long lines offer endless compositional opportunities. The third picture is of the arches further down towards Maximilianeum which is also a go-to location for portraits with perfect natural light in the late summer evenings.
4. Haus Der Kunst:
One of my favorite places in Munich. I’ve seen almost every exhibition here since 2019. The misty green shot is from a 2022 installation by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, where dense artificial fog filled the space, blurring shapes and turning the entire room into something straight out of a movie. The second photo comes from Philippe Pareno’s 2025 exhibition, focused on light and shadow. It captures a figure walking past a massive self moving wall with a huge light in the middle and framed by mirrors. A perfect example of how this space constantly transforms with each exhibition and the opportunity for cinematic shots are always there.
5. VolksTheater / Metro / Containers:
The last theme is more eclectic. It opens with a metro shot from Isartor station with the green coat of the subject perfectly matching the station’s green color scheme, while her bright orange hair and shoelaces add an additional matching visual element. Next is a summer 2024 photo taken in front of the red-brick Volkstheater with most of the composition being architectural. Look closely and you’ll spot a small cameo from an Augustiner beer bottle (very typical of Munich), resting casually on the ground beside the main subject gentleman in a hat.The last two images come from the colorful container structures near Leonrodplatz: one captures a silhouette against a high-contrast staircase, while the other includes a totally unexpected Ferrari 208 Cabrio photobomb.
And that wraps up my brief inquiry into the Muc years. I hope these stories added something to the images you saw. Thank you again for being here and reading this written recap of the exhibition. One last but very important note: at the time of writing I still have some of these museum grade framed prints available for sale, in case you’d like to bring a piece into your home and support me in my journey contact me here on on my instagram.