22-Year-Old Swiss Travel Photographer Perfectly Combines His Affinity for Landscapes and People

He just recently turned 22 and he already seems to be living a life a lot of people are probably jealous of. Swiss photographer Tobias Meyer, that is, or “Cosmokoala,” as he likes to call himself. The self proclaimed “lover of creative and adventurous things” was born in the eastern Swiss town of Biel and fell in love with photography because of his father and the Eyjafjallajökull.

When I was 16 years old, I went to Miami with my family. Two days before we had to fly back to Switzerland, the famous Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull errupted, causing all transatlantic flights to becancelled. So we had to stay in Miami for ten more days. I got tired of just lying around, so I took my father’s camera and I went for a walk. It was my first adventure with a DSLR.

Not long after, Meyer bought his first own camera, taking it with him on every trip he went, and capturing some awesome shots while he’s there. Nowadays, no less than 90,000 followers on Instagram love to see him do that.

I never really felt much love for any job I had, and photography had always been a hobby of mine. One day, I decided to try to make my hobby my job. At that time, I had been working as an assistant for two commercial photographers in Bern, and they had taught me a lot.

What do you seek or find in photography?

To me, photography and traveling are ways to teach myself about life. It all started with my curiosity to see how far away places look like, and how the people live there. All I do is document the things I come across. It’s all about the emotions.

Meyer has officially been self employed since October (although he does plan to start studying photography and design next February), which enabled him to travel and photograph at an even higher pace. He discovered a specific interest in people and landscapes, and Resource Travel was curious to hear where that came from.

With each photograph I take, I try to tell a story. I really like images with a sense of scale, and combining humans and beautiful landscapes is my favorite way to do that. I hope I inspire everyone who looks at my work to go out and explore and enjoy our wonderful planet as much as I do. Under an impressive waterfall, for example, or on top of a mountain during sunrise.

Which of these projects has been your favorite one?

My trip to Greenland. Definitely. It was pretty challenging to plan a trip to such a remote place, and I have never been to any place that inspired me so much.

Scrolling through Meyer’s photography, you can see bears, cliffs, huge waterfalls and more. But the photographer doesn’t consider himself a risk taker.

Respect is everything, whether it’s dangerous animals, cliffs or waterfalls. And it’s also important to know yourself and what you’re capable of. Know what’s possible and what’s not. It enables you to see the danger before it’s too late.

Meyer says that he can’t wait to get his hands on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, but he currently keeps shooting with his Mark III. When it comes to lenses, he ties to “keep the whole range covered,” from 16 to 400mm, his favorite being a 70-200mm F/2.8.

Playing with light, objects and elements of nature can be challenging, but this challenge is exactly what keeps me going.

Even though Meyer plans to go back to college, he will probably not stop taking pictures. So it might not be the worst idea to give him a follow on Facebook or Instagram, or take a look at his website every once in a while.