"I was born in a small rural village in Portugal. My passion for nature, especially trees and flowers come from my hometown, where all the houses are decorated with flowers and beautiful trees. Ergo, I grew up with a very close relationship with nature."
Currently, Ana works as the coordinator of a pharmaceutical research project, that what she does for a living. When I ask whether this influences her photography, she replies that because of her busy life, she needs to escape from the daily business, as she calls "my real life". She seeks to capture images that bring her calmness and peace what she needs for her inner balance.
My next question when and where did she start to learn photography:
"I grew up with a camera in my hands, so I'm a self-taught photographer. I have learnt all by myself and with some support from my professional friends."
Scrolling through Ana's Instagram feed, one can be immediately amazed by her breathtaking pastel tone. I ask her what persuades her to choose this fantastic pastel colour minimalist style.
"This minimal style just happened because of my preference in simplifying moments and my eye for details. I love to play with the negative space in an image.
Pastel and soft tones give me joy and make me happy; that's why I emphasise this colouring. I'm also a mum of a beautiful girl, and I see lots of unicorns every day."
When I ask about editing, Ana replies that she only uses the Instagram editing tools and filters.
"I like to play with some IG filters and tools to add some more light and pastel magic to my creations."
Ana’s recurring motifs are overall botanical, birds, sky and the seaside. I asked her what each of them means to her.
"Yes! I have some collections! Birds and sky mean freedom. Botanical brings me back to my childhood, and the seaside/beach symbolises tranquillity and joy. These elements are essential to my harmony."
After speaking about photography and her technique, we switch to some more personal questions such as travelling. At the time of our online interview, Ana is on a trip to the majestic African continent.
As soon as Ana mentions her current stay, my virtual ears are growing longer to listen to her personal experiences. My exceptional curiosity comes from my encounter with the continent when the early 2000s I visited some countries as a volunteer. Therefore, I ask Ana which countries she is stopping by and if she is willing to share her experiences with our darling readers.
"At present, I live with my family in Africa - namely in Angola, and it's a daily adventure. Every day I learn something new, actually a lot with my regular contact with a different country and community. I meet different lifestyles and traditions day-to-day! It's a daily challenge!
We have already visited São Tomé, Príncipe, Ghana, Marocco. We are planning to visit more places because travelling is another great passion of mine and my family!"
Following some imaginary journeys in the faraway magic world, we turn to chat about the Instagram community. I ask Ana about the group she builds up around her account and whether she has some personal relationship with other IG-ers. She immediately talks in superlatives about Instagram's global society.
"I receive so much love from my followers, which gives me so much boost to continue offering them a bit of me and my world.
I'm in personal contact with some IG-ers all over the world, and it's a great and inspiring experience!"
Since we always like to pop up some questions about Pickmotion, this could not be missed out this time either. I ask Ana if she already knew Pickmotion before we started our collaboration and if she still writes greeting cards.
"I only got to know Pickmotion when you contacted me to collaborate with you. I love the Pickmotion project because it encourages creative work, and it lets know fantastic photos that are done all over the world! And yes, I still send postcards to my family and friends; I love this ritual."
Subsequently, we jump to some questions about her printed photos as a decoration in her home.
"Of course, yes I do print some of my pictures! I love to see them on my wall; it gives the decoration my personal touch."
My last question is also an evergreen. Indeed, it's about Ana's favourite three IG-ers and why them.
"Difficult to choose only three. @hey.luisa - because she is a dreamer girl and makes magic with her artwork. @_goodoldfashioned - because she is a great storyteller and her photos remind me of my hometown. And at last but not least @in_somnia_ - because her images have a beautiful minimal touch with the pastel tones that I love."
