Looking at your pictures, you commute between Berlin and the Baltic Sea. Are these your two poles? And what connects you to the Baltic Sea?
The two poles are actually home and home. Berlin is my home and Stralsund is my home. Berlin is not my second home, but it is not foreign to me either. It felt good when I arrived here. Stralsund is close to my heart because I grew up there.
As a teenager I always wanted to leave Stralsund, but now that you're working you're happy to be there and have some peace and quiet. When I arrive I can smell the salty air. I never knew before that it actually smells like that. My friends there don't even notice. The whole town smells of the harbor and when I close my eyes it smells like home. I think the old town of Stralsund is really beautiful with its small houses and alleyways. Ah.
Architecture seems to appeal to you a lot, doesn't it?
I like these colorful gables and old brick houses that stand next to each other. This sometimes creates crazy contrasts. There are also new buildings in the old town that stand next to these brick houses and then you have the old and the new next to each other.
How do you find your motifs?
Good! (laughs)
I always plan something. For example, when the weather is nice, I get up in the morning and go to the harbor. I start at the bottom of the harbor and then wind my way up. I even found a street I'd never been on before. My last pictures were all very targeted. Here in Berlin, I tend to look at certain neighborhoods. I don't drive an hour somewhere just to take a photo of a house. When we go on an excursion, I tend to prepare myself mentally for what I could photograph. I especially like taking photos in the morning when it's empty and the light is nice.
People appear on your Instagram account from time to time. Is that typical for you?
It's fine if someone is in it. I like to try my hand at portraits, but that doesn't really fit into Instagram. I do portraits every now and then, but I rarely post them. It took me a long time to find a look that interested me and that I liked.
I also wanted to talk to you about your look. Your pictures are all relatively dark with earthy tones. Do you use certain filters?
The filter is M5 from VSCO. Then I export it to Instagram and do the finishing there. For example, darken the shadows, brighten the highlights and then the look is created. I also use a different filter, for example for green. I try to have a focus with a fixed point. I sometimes walk with the camera and the viewfinder in front of my eyes and see what happens and how something looks. As soon as I have my section, I take a photo. I like a lot of sky and calm image compositions and try to take wide-angle photos.
What do you use to take your pictures?
I started with analogue. That came about through my training, as I learned photography there. I took a lot of analogue photos to practice and then I got a Nikon during my training. Then came the time of iPhones. At some point I only took photos with an iPhone. Later I got interested again and got an Olympus. When something spontaneous comes up, it's usually the iPhone.
What do you do when you're not taking photos?
I put my feet up. I also like going out with friends. We often get together with friends. Otherwise I watch a lot of films, go to the cinema or have breakfast at someone's house.
My last cool film experience was the film "The Invisible Guest". It has a Spanish cast, something like a psychological thriller. You don't know which of the protagonists is actually the crazy one and then there was a twist that really made the chips fall out of my mouth. But I don't want to give any spoilers. I also really liked the film "Victoria" because I felt like I was there. I find it really thrilling to experience that situation.
Do you travel a lot?
Not so much, more like going home. I'm more of a colder northern type. It doesn't need to be more than 30 degrees. But I would really like to travel to Iceland.
What characterizes a really good photo for you?
That it has a focus and a clear motif. It's more the interplay of many things, including the colors, although I don't like green or red. Especially with red roofs, I always have to reduce that in my pictures. In a good picture, the overall mood should also be right, e.g. the incidence of light and the image section.
Thank you very much, Steffi!
Steffi's favorite Igers
@berlingraphy
@kiekmal.berlin
@baltic
@seesuechtig
@ohpullmyhair
