Born in Stuttgart and raised in Rome, Esser—son of a photographer and a writer—draws inspiration from literary classics like Marcel Proust, Gustave Flaubert, and Guy de Maupassant. For the exhibition "Die engen Wasser" (The Narrow Water), he explores the Loire and its tributaries, particularly the Evre. This series pays homage to the French writer Julien Gracq, whose 1976 book The Narrow Waters captures the poetic essence of the river in vivid, sensory prose.