Torsten Pull – Portrait of a Photographer

On a Mission to Capture Silence

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By Matt Payne | April 15, 2025

Matt Payne

Matt Payne is a landscape photographer and mountain climber from Durango, Colorado. He’s the host of the weekly landscape photography podcast, “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen,” co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, and co-founder of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. He lives with his wife, Angela, his son Quinn, and his four cats, Juju, Chara, Arrow, and Vestal.

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In December, I co-led a workshop to Death Valley with my friend David Thompson (featured in this column back in 2023). As is tradition, we stopped at the well-known Zabriskie Point to get our workshop participants warmed up for a great week of photography. Despite the location’s popularity, it still holds the potential for unique images—if one is willing to work for them.

While we were there, an unfamiliar voice called out to us and introduced himself—Torsten Pull. He had previously messaged me on Instagram, inquiring about my Death Valley plans, as he hoped to meet up.

I had mentioned that our workshops tend to be quite busy, but if we happened to cross paths, we would be sure to say hello. That chance meeting led to a great conversation between David, Torsten, and myself about his photographic journey. Afterwards, David made a remark that stuck with me: "That guy can shoot!" His enthusiasm piqued my curiosity, prompting me to dive deeper into Torsten’s work—and I was thoroughly impressed.

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