Category: Photography

Zurich, Another Point of View

"To me, photography is an art of observation.It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... little to do with the thing you see and everthing to do with the way you see it." Elliott Erwitt I was born and raised in a small town close to Zurich, so I've been there thousands of times. Every time I visit home I also visit Zurich. This means I got lots of photos of the city some I liked enough to put into my portfolio. But I got a lot of the usual same same viewpoints that you would get if you would google for images. Don't get me wrong, those viewpoints are very pretty. However, there are only so many times I feel I can post the same view unless it's a spectacular amazing photo I feel I have done that. So the last few visits I didn't even bother taking those photos, yet I have taken quite a few photos, which I would not add to my portfolio or my professional IG, because I simply felt they were not quite good enough. Lately, however, I have been rethinking the expectations I have of my photography and I have decided not to niche myself according to what I think is expected instead I am trying to just take photos of what resonates with me in the moment. Like snapping moments that I find interesting, beautiful views, details that catch my eye, the way the light falls... trying to convey a viewpoint and feeling more than the perfect photo. It's been creatively quite liberating because frankly I have been overly critical of myself and the result was not better photos but fewer and fewer photos with lots of frustrations. I still think that it's important I push myself to improve my craft and snap the best possible picture. I am still a relentless overachiever and a perfectionist. But in all honesty, when I look at my work the photos I like best are not the ones that are technically the best or the ones one would put into a travel catalog, it's the ones that somehow reflect the most what captured my attention at that moment. Those moments of beauty that I managed to capture really well. Going through my photos of the last year I realized that I have lots of unpublished photos that I really like. They are not quite your usual viewpoints of places, nor the prettiest. And clearly, I didn't feel they fit my professional IG, yet I feel they reflect much more of that trip and my creativity. And quite a few that I really loved were taken in Zurich. I realized that they portray a much more personal account of the city I love and know so well. While I am not sure I will share any of these on IG, I decided to share them in this space. That's what this space was for to share my thoughts and inspirations. So here are snippets of Zurich from another point of view. Or more accurately: Zurich from my point of view.

Reflections on January 2022

January started off slow and intentional. I reset my intentions and made time for my mourning routine. I felt like the first two weeks were an eternity. In fact, I even said that maybe this year will not be a total blur. And then, it all rushed by. Point of fact: I am writing this in mid-Feb. Even though I actually did write a small review into my journal. for some reason, I never got around to actually typing it out. I feel that I haven't gotten much done in the last couple of weeks of January, despite rushing around and always being busy. I ended up having sleeping issues as well, which retrospectively is most likely due to my ignoring my evening routine. I had two major deadlines in January. So I did spend quite a bit of time procrastinating and then freaking out. I would like to say I can actually pinpoint why I do it, but I have only a vague idea for my reasons. It is definitely something I will address in the next few months. But one thing I realised is that, I am not interested in being busy, feeling rushed and stressed. I don't really thrive on it anymore. I have no issue with working hard and a lot, but I actually do not enjoy the pressure of doing stuff within the last minute anymore. I feel like I am done with unnecessary drama, business and stress. I have been diligently working on Project 365. It's been interesting especially when we had bad weather and I am really not feeling like venturing out, so I have been taking way more stills. Also while I have purposely not set the task as having to be in a theme or even that I need to use my canon for the daily photo. The eternal perfectionist in me feels like the photos should still tell a story and I cringe when I only did take a photo on my phone. Then there is the not very curated grid that comes from this. It has been quite honestly a massive exercise in letting go for me for the first month. As I am talking about Project 365, I decided not to post the photos every week, because I feel like I am posting the same thing over and over. So if you want to see the actual photos visit my personal Instagram account. I do (most of the time) post daily. I will share the monthly mosaic with my reviews. That's all for now.Happy Valentines Day!

Project 365

One of the goals I set for myself this year is to do a 365 project, I mentioned this in my first post of the year. Essential this is a challenge to take a photo every day for one year. I have done this twice before and I actually quite enjoy the challenge of being consistent. I felt that in the last couple of years I kept taking fewer and fewer photos. Most of the time only shoot if I have a specific idea or project, which is totally the opposite of what I used to do before I did this professionally. An acquaintance of my husband described me to him as the person that is always taking photos once. He absolutely wouldn't today. It's not that I don't adore the medium anymore, but more that I keep attaching strings to it. I self-critic myself out of shooting, literally. Also in all honesty my camera is way bigger and heavier than my little beginners one I used to have, so it's connected to pure laziness as well. Anyway. I felt this challenge might help me just get back into enjoying the process and no overthinking just shooting. However knowing myself I decided to add that it can be any photo taken, even with my phone. I am sharing the snaps daily on my personal Instagram account and decided to do a weekly review of my week and share my snaps. Since I am starting this quite late I am going to play catch up. Posting week 1 today, shortly followed by week 2, so that I can do a weekly every Monday. Here are the first 8 days of my year in photos Week 1

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