Every month I track my progress and reflect on what I did in terms of photography. Did I improve, and if so, on what? Which aspects do I need to work on? But I also plan ahead. I check different locations I want to shoot in, I ask people if they want to do a photoshoot with me. I checked gear I didn’t know about. Last month, I learned more about battery grips and underwater gear. Truly fascinating!
At the beginning of February, I bought an extension tube which enables me to shoot objects from a much closer distance. This comes in very handy when capturing flowers. I can’t wait for Spring to be fully present. (At the moment of writing this blog post, it’s cold and snowing.)
New gear also means a lot of exercise and getting to know how it works. So I went outside and started experimenting. In Leuven I went to the Botanical Garden and to my great surprise, there already were quite some flowers.
Besides capturing the natural world and its beauty, I like to use my photography to put sustainable initiatives and people in the spotlight. A few months ago, I invited Sigrid, who is a forest bathing guide, for a photo shoot. We didn’t know each other in real life but we connected via Instagram. Right before the beginning of my second term at university, we met up. I took pictures of her and we had such a genuine conversation. Sigrid even gave me a small forest bathing session. It was so refreshing! Next week, I”ll interview her and you’ll be able to read the interview on my website. So Stay tuned for that!
In February, I released a few projects that I’ve been working on for a few months. It felt so good to finally come out with them. That was the case for my interview with Hannah Alexander , an American beekeeper and photographer . I interviewed her in November and it was such an inspiring conversation. This is what I want to do, get to know like-minded people who are also passionate about nature and our planet. With my writings, I want to underscore the impact we as individuals have on the environment.
“Small acts multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”
~Howard Zinn
Another project I did this month was my website, I gave it a complete makeover and I am very happy with the result. In the beginning, it was quite scary to change the design but I wanted something different. A website that tells more about what I am doing and not about what I used to do. It’s safe to say that my website is my biggest project ever. It’s an online reflection of what I stand for.
At the start of the second term, I went to the editorial meetings of Veto, an independent student magazine and I immediately chose my first task as a photographer. Yesterday I visited the art exhibition Down to Earth and made a photo reportage which you can see here.
There is a lot of change happening at the moment for me and I am grateful I can be so passionate about what I love. The hesitation I had about what I am doing and why and how and when has left me. Now I find myself motivated to write my own story and to create what I consider important, valuable and beautiful.
It feels even more right when people validate what I do. Getting compliments about my pictures, improvement and projects is simply the best. Of course, I do all of this for myself but without readership, without people to look at my pictures, and without being seen, my art would not fulfil its purpose.
6 months of photography, half a year of my life in which I’ve used almost every free moment for photography. It makes me feel happy, fulfilled, motivated and confident. One thing is for sure, I’ll never forget the day I bought my camera, 4 September 2022.
As always, I can’t wait to amaze myself further, to put in the hard work, to meet new people, to improve and to enjoy and cherish.
Until the next blog,
Laura
- 📷 creative centipede & professional dreamer
- Literature student
- 🪶Telling stories about pureness, softness & uniqueness with paint, images and words
- 🌞 Sustainability
Laura van Cutsem 