Tassilo de la Torre, Adventure Photographer · Architect

Selected work

Where these come from.

These come from journeys by sea kayak, on foot, by bike and hitchhiking. I sleep outside most nights, in caves, in ruins, on gravel bars and on summits, so I am usually there early and late, when the light is good. A trip runs for weeks or months.

Tassilo standing upright on his loaded folding kayak, paddle raised, gliding a mirror-calm Danube at golden hour with Fluffo at the bow and the neoclassical Walhalla temple on the wooded hill behind — 01 The Danube beneath the Walhalla. EUROPA, fully loaded, Fluffo at the bow.

Drone view straight down onto a weathered wooden boat moored at a green riverbank, Tassilo's folding kayak tied alongside — 02 The river, straight down, by drone. Paddling the Tiber, Italy.

A small tent pitched on the rocky summit of Monte Molare at dawn, Tassilo on the crag above a sea of pink mist, the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius on the horizon — 03 Dawn on Monte Molare, the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius behind.

Tassilo and Fluffo, his black dog, asleep in a sleeping bag inside Nuka Sakdari, the frescoed ninth-century Georgian basilica, at dawn — 04 Dawn inside Nuka Sakdari, Fluffo still asleep.

Tassilo kneeling on the grass, hand-painting the name EUROPA on the bow of his folding kayak, a marked-up map of Europe spread on the hull beside him — 05 The boat gets her name.

A teal hammock strung across a doorway in a derelict plastered room; Tassilo in a red wool hat rests inside it with Fluffo the black dog on his chest — 06 A long night in an abandoned Armenian house. Turkey.

Frames from the expeditions.

Rivers and ruins, camps and coastlines, and Fluffo, who never misses a launch.

A rock-cut classical tomb facade with a figure in a sleeping bag between the pillars — A bed among the columns · Lycian tomb, Turkey

Tassilo with Fluffo, his black dog, among Roman colonnade ruins at sunset — Golden hour with Fluffo · Turkey

An intact Roman tomb-temple with columns and a small figure inside in golden light — The temple still stands · Turkey

A man reading in a hammock strung over trees, a loaded kayak on the bank — Slung above the river · Regensburg, Germany

A man walking the surf beside a beached, rusting fishing trawler at golden hour — The stranded giant · Egypt

An ornate Baroque church interior with a frescoed dome and gilded columns — Under the painted vault · Romania

A young man caught mid-air leaping by a big riverside tree, kayak and dog on the beach — Leap into the shallows · Hungary

Stepped hillside vineyards with a small stone chapel-gate — Terraces of the Wachau · Austria

Top-down drone view of a man asleep beside his loaded kayak on the sand — Beached at dusk · Croatia

Aerial of a hammock and a blue kayak on a riverbank in warm evening light — Camp on the gravel bar · Serbia

The architect's eye

Architecture, the other subject.

I studied architecture (B.A., TU München), so I tend to look at ruins, structures and landscapes the way I used to draw buildings. Most of these were taken from the water or from the air.

Aerial drone photograph at dusk of La Vela di Calatrava, Santiago Calatrava's vast white steel structure over the unfinished Città dello Sport in Rome, city lights on the horizon — i. La Vela di Calatrava, Rome, by drone at dusk.

Looking down a colonnade of sculptural white concrete ribs in raking evening light, their zigzag shadows mirrored in a dark pool of rainwater — ii. Ribs, light, and a puddle for a mirror.

A symmetrical honey-stone neoclassical palace at golden hour, perfectly mirrored in a long, still reflecting pool — iii. Stone, symmetry, still water.

A ruined stone tower clinging to a sheer dark cliff face, a tiny figure in a red hat waving from its doorway — iv. A tower holding on to the cliff. Find the red hat.

Four tall panelled wooden doors standing upright on the street outside a doorway, a man in a cap and leather jacket between them with a black dog at his feet — v. Doors out of a house, waiting on the pavement.

Ochre palace facade with iron-grilled windows, a carved wooden door leaning against the opening and a man standing in the dark doorway — vi. A door taken out, a doorway left open.

A row of heavy panelled wooden doors leaning against a historic ochre facade, a man standing in the empty doorway behind them — vii. The whole set, lined up along the street.

A man gripping the bars of a large wrought iron window grille mounted upright on a frame, pretending to be caged behind it — viii. A seventeenth century grille, and a bad idea.

A man standing in the opening of an old studded wooden door in a stripped building with bare plaster and a raw timber lintel — ix. A studded door, still in its frame.

White concrete stadium steps rising towards scaffolding against a pink and blue dusk sky, a lone figure sitting on the edge — x. Concrete steps, scaffolding, dusk.

A bronze equestrian statue in front of a neoclassical facade, a young man sitting on the horse with one arm raised — xi. Borrowing a horse.

A Roman stone bridge of low arches over a calm river, a man standing waist deep in the water below it — xii. A Roman bridge, still doing its job.

The dark interior of a church with two tall gothic windows of leaded glass glowing against black stone walls — xiii. Two windows, and everything else dark.

See the full architecture work at Studio Kotorre →

Expeditions 2026

Two journeys. One camera.

Spain, under human power

On the trail now · Two months

Across Spain on foot and by sea kayak: the Almería desert, the plains of Castilla, the wet green north coast. Sleeping outside most nights, with Fluffo.

A lap of Mallorca, filmed

September · In stages

Around Mallorca by sea kayak in stages, with Fluffo as crew, and I'll bring home a short documentary, daily films and a real body of photography.

Where I have already been: rivers, coasts and roads, in photographs → Want your gear on this journey? Partner with the 2026 expeditions →

The Atlas

All the routes, on one globe.

The real routes, by bike, kayak, boat and thumb, from the Camino to Kyrgyzstan. Spin the globe, zoom in, follow the lines across the world.

Every line here was travelled under my own power and recorded on the way. I am building this into something anyone can use: a proper satellite and terrain atlas where you plot your own journeys and plan the next one, the tool that went missing when FATMAP was shut down. If you run an expedition and want your own globe, write to me.

By transport

Bike
Kayak
Boat / ferry
Hitchhiking
On foot
Train
Underway · Sept. 2026
Dreaming

Drag to spin · scroll to zoom · Shift + drag to tilt

Put your own journey on it

About

Behind the camera.

Portrait of Tassilo in a red wool hat lying in a teal hammock, cradling Fluffo the black dog asleep on his chest

Portrait of Tassilo in a white tee and open dark shirt, leaning against a wood-panelled doorway — The other kind of shoot.

I've had folding boats since I was twelve. Last summer I paddled a 1950s folding kayak 2,580 km down the Danube, from Ulm to the Black Sea, with my dog Fluffo as crew. I trained as an architect and I've spent years in product photography. This year I'm crossing Spain on foot and by kayak, and paddling around Mallorca.

Five languages, and a lifetime of racing and paddling along the coasts of southern Spain, Corsica and the Mediterranean.

2,580 kmdown the Danube
Age 12first folding boat
5 languagesspoken
B.A. ArchitectureTU München

Fluffo the black dog in a red life vest sitting on a sandy beach, a long driftwood stick in his mouth — Fluffo, first mate, regulation life vest. Corsica.

Tassilo skiing at speed, carving a deep turn with snow spray flying against dark pines — Winter The season the kayak stays folded. Ski teacher in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Tassilo laughing at the centre of a group of ski instructors in red uniforms, lifted off his feet at a sunny mountain bar — End of the season, carried off the hill. Ski teacher in Schönried, Switzerland.

What I shoot with

The kit that comes along.

Light enough to carry for months, and able to take salt, sand and rain. This is the whole list, nothing extra.

Fujifilm X-T4My main camera. Weather sealed, so it keeps shooting when the weather turns.
Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4The everyday zoom, wide to short tele, for camp, coast and the people I meet.
Tamron 18-300mmThe reach: wildlife, far shorelines and the small details across the water.
DJI Mini 3 ProThe view from the air, small enough to launch from a kayak deck.
GoPro Hero 10 BlackIn the water, on the hull, wherever a bigger camera cannot go.

Plus a few smaller cameras for the moments the others miss.

Writing

What I bring back besides pictures.

Two pieces from the rivers. One is an essay about a boat and a continent. The other is the only continuous report of the navigable Tiber that exists, written so the next person has something I did not.

Tassilo kneeling on the grass, hand-painting the name EUROPA on the bow of his folding kayak

Essay · The Danube

Hold On, Europa

On the roof of a Soviet boathouse in Budapest, patching a seventy year old folding kayak named Europa, the Parliament shining on the far bank. A thousand kilometres down, sixty days to the Black Sea, and a continent that needs repairing.

Read in English · Auch auf Deutsch

Aerial view of a bivouac on a gravel bank of the Tiber, canoe, tent and all the gear of the journey

Report · Italy · Deutsch

Befahrung des Tibers

380 kilometres alone by canoe from Sansepolcro to the sea, in a boat bought from an 88 year old woman. Every weir, portage, rapid and campsite, day by day, with the annotated aerial maps. Written because no complete report of this river existed.

Read the report →

All writing →

Commissioned by

outdoor MagazinPhotography and route reports from the 2026 expeditions. Motor Presse Stuttgart.
ALPINText and photography from the Spanish stages, on commission.

For brands & partners

One person who is photographer, subject and location at once.

Film
A documentary of twenty to forty minutes, plus daily short films you are free to run on your own channels.
Photography
Fifty to a hundred finished photographs, with full commercial rights.
Proof
Your product after months of real use, in salt, rain and sun.

"Every collaboration starts small. The good ones I want to keep for years."

And every collaboration plants ten trees. I dig the holes myself, in the emptiest highlands in Spain, and you get the coordinates.

Write to me Download media kit (PDF)

Prints & editions

Prints for the wall.

Fine-art prints of the expeditions, from the water and from the air. Archival paper, signed and numbered, shipped worldwide.

The Danube beneath the Walhalla, Tassilo standing on his loaded folding kayak at golden hour — The Danube beneath the Walhalla

Aerial of La Vela di Calatrava, Rome, at dusk — La Vela di Calatrava, Rome

A stone church ruin clinging to a sheer cliff in Artvin, a lone figure lit in the doorway — The cliff church of Artvin

Dawn camp on Monte Molare above the Bay of Naples, Vesuvius on the horizon — Dawn on Monte Molare, Naples

Every print plants a tree. One native tree, planted by hand in Guadalajara for every photograph sold. Not a donation: my own shovel, and the coordinates published.

A330 × 42 cm A242 × 59 cm A159 × 84 cm

Archival cotton paper, signed and numbered, shipped worldwide. Pick a size above and tell me which photograph you want. If you would rather have a size that is not listed, ask.

Nuka Sakdari, a ninth-century Georgian basilica on its shelf of rock above a valley in Artvin — Nuka Sakdari, on its shelf of rock above the valley. Artvin, Turkey.

A project to support

Eleven hundred years old, and running out of time.

On a ledge above a roadless valley in Artvin stands Nuka Sakdari, a Georgian church of the ninth century: parts of the stone roof open to the sky, the walls failing, never restored and never drawn. In October a group of us, architectural designers, filmmakers, artists and historians from seven countries, make the first measured record in its history and film the two weeks we spend living inside it. The record is what makes a repair possible. The film raises part of the money. Turkish restoration architects do the work; we do not restore.

Ways to help

GearPacks, mats, a stove, cameras and lighting for the film. The measuring instruments are already covered.
FundingThe overland journey, insurance for a remote site, and the film equipment.
ContactsHeritage foundations, the authorities in Erzurum and Ankara, Georgian universities, journals.
ExperienceConservation, structural engineering, photogrammetry, archives, heritage law, film. There is room in the group.

Support the project See the full proposal →

Contact

tassilo@tassilodelatorre.com

Instagram · @tassilodlts WhatsApp · +34 608 635 863 Media kit · PDF

Small boats, long journeys, and a lot of world to look at.