Davos is a peculiar stage. Snow-covered mountains, security cordons, the staged backdrops of the corporations — and in the middle of it all, people from every country in the world, working away on some kind of digital device.
Since 2015 I have been documenting the World Economic Forum in Davos for Die ZEIT and Studio ZX. My focus is on the receptions, side events and partner gatherings around the official main programme — the space where business, politics, media and culture meet away from the big stage.
What makes Davos special for me is the curiosity of the situation. There is a permanent tension in the air — everyone is busy, nothing is tangible. It feels charged, without much actually happening. That observation is exactly what I poured into my personal photo series Davos Side Quest, made in the gaps between assignments.
What many people underestimate: the logistics. Driving to Davos makes no sense — traffic is chaos, security checks take time, distances drag on. If you want to get somewhere, you need time. Once you are inside somewhere, there is no space. Outside the lounges and the invited areas you can barely sit down, power outlets are a rarity. Davos is exhausting.
Precisely for that reason the work there only succeeds with clear preparation, a calm presence and the stamina to last long days. Over eleven years that has turned into routine — and into a relationship of trust with the communications teams at Die ZEIT that holds year after year.
It is the curiosity of the situation. A permanent tension — and at the same time the question: what is actually happening here?
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