Photography: from passion to profession
Beholding and capturing beauty are things that I enjoyed doing from a young age. During my childhood, I often drew things that made an impression on me, or that I imagined. Nowadays, I mostly use the camera to do this. Interestingly, I discovered my passion for photography through another interest: dressing up, haha. When I was about fifteen years old, my best friend and I would compose several outfits, do our hair up, and then go out into the neighbourhood, a park or the forest, to take photos of one another.
I didn't own a camera yet at the time, but was allowed to borrow the one from my parents. I think that because I wasn't able yet to capture things as instantly and at any given time - seeing that I didn't have my own camera - these photo shoots were special and defining moments. Even though at that age, photography itself was still more a by-product to the dressing up and having fun together, it did train my eye a bit and made me grow fond of the camera's use. I guess that the camera itself, as well as the depth of this medium were just still a bit invisible to me, but interacting with it planted a seed.
When at the age of seventeen I got my first smartphone, and Instagram was founded, I, just like many others, started making photos of anything nice around. In the early days of Instagram's existence, many nice looking meals and little shots of random moments passed by. Also I loved making photos of my breakfast, haha, and shared both these and the pictures of the photoshoot afternoons on this social media platform. During that time I discovered how nice it is to edit photos, and create a beautiful page with images that fit together nicely in colours and shapes.
From then on, I also grew increasingly fond of the process of making photos. The topic was still important, but at the same time, the capturing process gained more value to me as well. I also discovered that to me, Instagram and photography were not so much about showing myself but about showing the world. I still loved the occasional photoshoots with friends and a self-portrait from time to time, but my surroundings soon became my favourite subject.
Because after a while the limits of my Iphone four's camera became evident, and because I wanted to expand my knowledge of photography, I saved up for my first camera. On my birthday, my father and I went to an electronics store, where I bought this beautiful Nikon D3100 with a big zoom lens. Using this SLR camera for the first time, and learning about its functions was very special and interesting. From then on, I took this camera everywhere I went. My neck muscles strengthened during the trips where it hung around my neck, haha. For years this Nikon served me so well, and during my first five months in South Africa, I actually deeply regretted not bringing it with me. The absence of a proper camera, in a country as beautiful as South Africa, made me realised how much I love photography. It had become more of an extension of myself than I had realised.
Delving even deeper into photography as a medium, I found myself increasingly inspired to embark on the path of film photography. One of the most important reasons for the growth of this interest was the discovery of analogue quality. I had been deeply inspired by the beauty of the analogue photos of some of my friends and connections. Next to this, my love for everything vintage reached an new high. Knowing that my boyfriend also appreciated this style of photography, made me decide to buy him a beautiful Pentax ME for his birthday. After receiving his gift, he and I went for walks through Amsterdam to take some photos of the beautiful streets, buildings and canals. Through this, I first got a taste for film photography myself. I was in love.
It was nice to use a camera that forces you to look at things with even more awareness. When the photos of the Pentax came out after development, I was so happily surprised to see what beautiful images it had created. Perhaps I was looking for a certain level of authenticity, and I felt and saw that with a film camera I could come closer to what I considered to be my own style. During my first phase in South Africa, almost two years later, the absence of my Nikon and this growing love for film photography made me decide to buy my own film camera. On my page Fujifilm X-T4 I will continue talking about my journey with film as well as digital photography.
As time went on, my enthusiasm for both film and digital photography kept growing, as well as my interest in camera techniques. For reaons I will explain on the Fujifilm page, I also included a digital camera in my repertoire. I find a lot of joy in learning how to use both types of cameras in the best possible ways. It feels like I've truly embarked on this photographic journey now. I would still call myself an amateur, but one who's very eager to learn and ultimately become a professional. Recently, I have began taking more photos of people in the streets, and had my first photoshoot for a brand. I look forward to all that is to come.
