'From Oslo to Lisbon... people change and cultures change'

Christian Lamy started doing photography after accompanying a friend to a photoshoot: "He taught me how to tell stories through pictures."

Professionally, Christan Lamy is the director of the National Education Training Institute (IFEN). He bought his first camera 20 years ago and photography has become one of his biggest passions ever since.

For him, a good photograph is a picture that evokes emotions. But also one that tells a story. And he's willing to wait for that story to happen in front of his lens.

"When I walk through a city, and I reach a spot that I like, I try to stay put. Either the light or the sky will change, or an actor could enter the stage. Whether that be a bird flying through the frame or a person walking through it. Then I can tell a story."

Capturing all 46 European cities

Today, the photographer from Diekirch aims to take pictures of all of 46 European capital cities. With these images, he wants to create a book or an exposition which could be shown in many different places throughout the country.

"Because of the recent conflicts, I realised that even though Europe is such a small continent, we have an immense diversity on it. From Oslo down to Rome and Lisbon, the fauna changes, people change and cultures change. But still, in Europe everything is close by."

Capturing cities authentically

Christian Lamy wants to show these cities authentically and not rely on overdone clichés. The way the cities are portrayed might not be the same a tourist would see them.

"It will be my own view but I want it to be fair. Take Sarajevo, for example. One side of the city is very Muslim, you’ll find a lot of mosques there. If you only take pictures there, it only tells one side of the city’s story. You also see a lot of damage from the war. If I only took pictures of that, it would tell a distorted story."

The city is surrounded by mountains, which is also a side the photographer aims to capture. So far, he says he has captured about two thirds of the capital. He guesses that the whole projects may be finished in about two years.

Favourite cities

Christian's favourite cities are Paris, Berlin and Sarajevo, as these are the cities that surprised him the most throughout his travels.

And then there's also Athens. Before emarking on the project, he only knew about the Acropolis, but once he travelled there, he viewed the city in a new way. "It felt like I was in a big town, where something is happening in every corner and where there is no real centre."

Here are some of Christian Lamy's works:

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