Merlin Röhl arrived at Finch Farm for a Thursday morning session and, before reaching the dressing room, stopped. Leighton Baines and Billy McKinlay, two of manager David Moyes' assistants, were mid-story with a group of players — laughing, gesturing, fully alive in the moment. Röhl reached for his Leica M6.

"We were coming in from training and just sitting in front of the dressing room, a few lads, and Leighton and Billy were telling a story," Röhl says. "They were laughing the whole time, pointing at each other. This situation meant so much to me. The connections between people. I took 20, 30 photos."

Life through a lens

That instinct — to frame a moment, to preserve it — has now produced a published photography book. Life with Everton offers an intimate look at the club from the inside, shot in Röhl's preferred black and white. One image shows Michael Keane and Vitaliy Mikolenko deep in a game of chess in the dressing room, neither player aware the shutter has fired.

The German midfielder, who joined Everton on loan from Freiburg before signing permanently, credits Henri Cartier-Bresson as a foundational influence. "The most famous one is Henri Cartier-Bresson! Legend!" he says. "In the beginning, I looked at his photos and was like, 'nice photos'. As soon as you know more about photography, you know more how brilliant he was." One picture in particular captivates him — Cartier-Bresson's 1932 work Hyeres, France, also known as The Cyclist, in which a tiny bicycle reflection anchors the composition. "He was completely aware of how to put those little things in. That's what fascinated me."

Baines — himself a keen photographer — has been both a practical encouragement and something of a philosophical guide. "When we talk about the mental side, we can be quite similar in certain thoughts," Röhl explains. "Leighton was talking the other day about how something can have a great significance, and the same thing can also have an insignificance. When you're injured, the significance feels so high — but it's maybe just a small adductor injury, and compared to real health problems, it's nothing. That helps to put things into perspective."

A very active brain

Röhl is candid about why photography has become essential rather than recreational. "There are certain days where I come home from training and think about so many things — my past, the lives of other people. Something needs to help my brain calm down a little bit. So I pick up a camera."

That reflective quality runs deep. Röhl grew up in Potsdam with two doctor parents who, he says, gave him the freedom to develop across every dimension of his life — academic, artistic, and sporting. When his club Ingolstadt wanted him training full-time and suggested he leave school, his parents refused. "My parents were like, 'No — go to school, get your Abitur'. I didn't play for a few games. I got my Abitur. Afterwards, I was playing. It worked out."

The Abitur — Germany's equivalent of A-levels — was non-negotiable at home, regardless of how bright his football future looked.

Kaka, Bellingham, and footballing vision

On the pitch, Röhl's imagination manifests differently. He describes himself as a player who "visualises a lot — thinking, dreaming about certain patterns, images, situations." His idol growing up was Kaka. "He had a joy of playing, the speed and technical ability. That's something I'm still dreaming about getting on the pitch."

Among the current generation, Röhl reserves particular admiration for Jude Bellingham, whom he faced in the DFB-Pokal in 2021 when his first club, Ingolstadt, visited Borussia Dortmund. "Oh, wow, I really enjoyed that," he recalls. "The ability to keep the ball in difficult situations is something where he's incredible. He can play every position, keeps the ball — and then he scores."

Röhl was 19 at the time, a Bundesliga 2 player with a camera in his bag and an Abitur in his pocket. The path from there to a permanent Everton contract — and a published book — has been shaped as much by curiosity as by talent.