Unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria in Berlin. Although the state of Germany has a mandatory legal guardian role, a lot of them are living under poor conditions, with little medical, financial or humanitarian support.
Photographed for Zeit Online
In April 2025, writer Arvid Jurjaks and I visited the Asse nuclear waste repository that has become one of Germany’s major environmental scandals. Once a symbol of hope for the country’s nuclear industry, now a textbook example of failure. Asse is filling with water. Some of the water that once “disappeared” underground has since been traced again; it wasn’t radioactive yet, but could become so if it reaches the waste chambers. For years, workers have tried to collect the inflowing brine before it drips onto the partly damaged barrels, a Sisyphean task with no guarantee of success.
While politicians keep postponing the costly retrieval of the waste from one legislative term to the next, only a few elderly local activists continue to push for accountability—among them Mrs. Wiegel and deacon Koch who offers nuclear counseling.
Blind Para-Swimmer Elena Semechin, who just got diagnosed with brain cancer, but continues to swim and train. 2 years later I met her again, this time pregnant with her first child.
Photographed for Zeit Online + Spiegel
Karolin Nuckel was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in her early 30s. Together with her partner Samad Berdjas she wrote a book about how to deal with this.
Photographed for Zeit Online in their garden.
The Berlin Cruisers are the first FLINTA Rugby Team in Germany.
Photographed for taz
