Photographer, lecturer, pastor

«Nature has to be felt,» said Alexander von Humboldt – and precisely this feeling is at the core of Silvia Trüssel's wildlife photography. For over 16 years, she has been repeatedly drawn to Africa, especially southern Africa with a focus on Namibia. She spends several weeks a year on the move: gamedriving, with great patience and great joy. She prefers to travel with an off-road vehicle, roof tent, and camping gear – self-sufficient, individual, nomadic.

 

«Nature must be felt,» said Alexander von Humboldt – and it is precisely this sense of feeling that shapes the photographic work of Silvia Trüssel. For almost 20 years, she has regularly travelled to Southern Africa, particularly Namibia. Wildlife and landscape photography remain her enduring passion. Series such as «Whispering Land» emerge from her close connection to the vastness, light, and atmosphere of these landscapes.

 

Over the years, her work has also evolved towards documentary and reportage photography. At the centre are people, life stories, and places marked by fractures and traces. Particularly in the field of craftsmanship, as well as in projects involving aid organisations, she is interested in the everyday lives of people and the stories behind places and life situations. This interest also led her to so-called lost places as traces of past lives and former ideas.

 

In 2023, Silvia Trüssel professionalised her photographic practice as a part-time activity under the motto: «Time for unposed images and real life.» She repeatedly seeks connections with her work as a pastor. This resulted in the 2024 exhibition «Craft of Farewell», which continues to be shown at various locations.

 

Exhibitions and more

  • Two lectures at the International Photo Festival Olten (2025)
  • Conception and implementation of the exhibition «Craft of Farewell» (from 2025, different places)
  • Participation in photoSWITZERLAND 2024 with the project «The last hatter in Switzerland», leading the seminar «Capturing the art of craftsmanship» and participation in an artist talk
  • Participation at photoSWITZERLAND 2023 with two projects: «Good hope in South African» and «... and the world keeps turning» (Wildlife) and participation in an artist talk
  • Participation at Embrach Photo Gallery (fogae) for Portrait photography exhibition 2022/23

Awards

  • Calvendo Gold Prize for the «Wild Okavango Delta» calendar (2023)
  • A picture in «Best of photoSWITZERLAND» (2023)
  • Calvendo Gold Prize and the Jury Prize in the Craft Photography category for the «Ceramic Dreams» calendar (2022)

Photographic Education

  • June 2024: Participation in the environmental photography festival in Zingst (D) with various workshops in landscape photography
  • May 2022: 3-week workshop in Humanitarian Photography at Anna Lusty in Cape Town.
  • August 2019 to March 2020: Basic and advanced module of the course Photography CAS. Auditing of the degree by the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Due to the corona crisis, it was no longer possible to attend the final module.
  • Since 2009 in self-study with various lectures at Nikon Switzerland, workshops on various topics, photo trip in Botswana with professional photographer James Gifford as well as tours with professional photographer Peter Haarhoff in and around Cape Town

Equipment

I am on my way with a Nikon Z and various lenses, love the filter system from Nisi, tripods from Sirui and Gitzo and backpacks from F-Stops and Lowpro.