It’s just four years ago that Stefanie started to try out different photo apps on her smartphone – to be convinced by Instagram and EyeEm. For her Instagram account @steffimarla – a combination of her and her daughter’s name – she takes new photos almost each single day. She says images must be “fresh” – and gets inspired by the contradictions between city and countryside, her travels (Barcelona, Amsterdam) or the seasons. #latergrams are not her most favoured.
A big photo source is Steffis home region, the many many lakes in Brandenburg. I mostly prefer her photos taken around Gransee and Geronsee, they are my highlight because they capture the beauty of the seasons. Steffi lives the luxury to spend her time, at least once in a while, at these lakes, in a region she is rooted to because of her family, although living in Berlin for 17 years already.
A leisure time activity, for her photography is an important counterpole to family life with her husband and two children – interesting enough replaces an older past time hobby – “editing photos is like drawing to me”, says Stefanie. She likes to describe her style, that is followed by 42k people as “nice things, girly, bright photos”. And in fact, most of her images are flooded by light, using backlight as her means of choice and distinct anti-glooming.
One of her most unforgettable photo moments was about light too: On another day in autumn in Brandenburg, roaming a field in thick fog Steffi witnessed the time when suddenly the sun turned up and chased aways the haze. Another time, in a snow storm on Alexanderplatz, the central square in Berlin, she saw a grey concrete world turn into a white winter wonder land. Steffis biggest dream is photographing New York – but first she means to bring home lots of light and white chalk cliffs from Rügen, an island in the Baltic sea.
