Teresa Q

She shoots both film and digital, but the camera makes no difference when it comes to the quality of her ideas and shoots. Intense images of (mostly) people, beautifully coloured photos of flowers and still life. This is her, a girl called Teresa. She's one of the up-coming stars of our precious contemporary photography.


(And she was so nice to answer all my questions because I asked her much more things than I asked anybody before.. thank you for that, beauty. And there is also more photos from her than there has ever been from anybody. That means Happy New Year from me to all the beautiful people who are interested in this small blog.)

The lovely girl's story:

1. How did it all become? Do you remember if there was some particular reason why you started taking photos?
- I know how uninteresting it sounds, but there really was no particular reason why. I used to take pseudo-fashion portraits of my best friend at the time and I really liked it, along with all the beautifying production before it. I remember I used to borrow cameras from my friends, since I didn't have any at the time. Then I bought a second-hand sony cybershot 2mp (you have phones with 2mp, now ahaha) and only later I bought my Canon 400D. There was a time when I used to (awkwardly) ask complete strangers to model for me and I actually made friends that way - good times. ahaha Anyways, then I kinda got bored of all the posing and make-up and fancy dressing, and I felt like shooting something with a little more essence and substance. That's when I fell in love with film, I think. It just seemed like the perfect ally to do it, with it's soft tones and cinematic feel, everything is magical and prettier when shot with an analogue - film does it better. I started photographing mostly for fun, but it has been growing and I've been putting a little more thought and effort into my pictures recently. Nowadays, I just feel really passionate about it and I really don't think I would be the same person without it.


2. Describe yourself in a few words.
- Ah! I hate these questions, seriously. Whether they're about me or about someone else, I just hate them! ahaha. We live in a world where change is said to be the only constant. And we, humans, do change constantly, both psychologically and biologically. So, It just feels bizarre trying to limit someone to a few words, just as much as it seems bizarre to me, that someone would actually feel the need to pack people into groups - psychological tests and astrology (not in-depth astrology, but the basic 12 signs) do this, like many, many other theses and theories.
To make it short: I have no idea how to describe myself in a few words! I change my interests and points of view constantly - I'm such a different person from the one I was 2 years ago. Anyways, I do believe that there are certain personality traits that remain, that are stuck to us like glue, some sort of essence, maybe. The ones that I seem to be keeping throughout the years, though, are: being creative, sensitive, honest (brutally honest, at times). I still keep my child-like sense of wonder, I'm communicative, perfectionist, open-minded - even though I'm usually firm about where I stand, so I can be a little stubborn too. :) ahaha
I hope it's enough.

3. What do you express with your photography, what is the message for the world?
- There's really no specific message behind my stream, I think. I'm not on a mission and I'm not trying to fulfill any purpose besides my own. I love taking pictures - period. I love being able to picture the world in a prettier way. Other than that I'm just expressing myself, I'm creating something - because there's an urge to do so - and putting it out there, sharing it with anyone and everyone that would like to see it.
I like creating little stories, I like putting emotion into my pictures, I like it when people feel something looking at them, when they can relate to them. But on top of that, I'm an aesthetic person so, beauty is the key. However, beauty has many forms. Solitude, melancholy, longing, sadness, death, even, they are beautiful too, so why not portray them that way? There's beauty in everything, I believe. Yes, even in the darkest flaws and most cruel actions - being a good person is overrated, anyways.


4. What equipment do you use? (meaning also editing program)
- I use a Zenit-11 and a Canon 400D. When using my Zenit-11 I barely need to edit the pictures. Usually I just twitch the colors a bit to get them just like I want them, but it's nothing much. Now, when I use digital, yeah, Photoshop CS3 is in order.

5. Where do you go for inspiration and what makes you keep shooting?
- I don't go anywhere for inspiration. I get inspiration from other fellow artists and from new places and new people and a pretty object... well, just about anything, really. Light is the usual common factor though, there's nothing like good light to make me want to shoot. That late afternoon light, it just brings things to life in a magical way... fills me up inside. Besides, It just seems like such a waste not to use it when it's staring me right in the face. I just have to. There's really no way to ignore it. ahaha

6. Where were you born, do you still live at the same place and do you wish you lived somewhere else?
- I was born in Aveiro, Portugal. And, yes, I still live here. There was a time when I lived by myself in Porto, which I loved, but then I came back here. Felt good to be home for the christmas season, though. :)
As for living somewhere else, the thing is, I've never travelled anywhere else besides spain, so I don't really have means of comparison. But I do believe that when I do start travelling places, I probably won't want to come back.


7. Your favourite photographers/painters/musicians/film-makers?
- This is another tough one, because it keeps changing. Photographers that I love? Many! But I probably won't love them as much tomorrow. Anyways I'll give you some names: Waldemar and Max, Rus Anson, Alison Scarpulla, Viola Cangi, Li Hui, Ann He., Mervecan Saral, Adam Sewastianowicz, Aëla Labbé, and many many others. Painters, I love paintings, but I rarely remember the names of the painters ahaha but Leonid Afremov, Audrey Kawasaki, Rebecca Dautremer. Musicians: Hanne Hukkelberg, Anja Garbarek, Psapp, The Raconteurs, Tom Waits, Patrick Watson, Lhasa de Sela, Panda Bear, Bon Iver - and many, many more (I'm a music addict). Film makers hum... I like Jim Jarmusch and recently a friend of mine showed me Hal Hartley's work, and I really like it as well. But I'm not big on directors names, sorry.

8. Tell us what your usual day looks like.
- I get up, get the train, go to work... then I usually meet some friend for coffee or walk the streets listening to music - making time until my next train back home. Then after coming back I can meet with another friend or take pictures... and then I'll be home editing them like a maniac. ahaha But my days are very unpredictable. I don't plan them too much.

9. What do you like to do beside of photography?
- I have many passions, but the biggest ones are: singing, acting and dancing. Those are the things, besides photography, that make me ecstatic. Other than that, I'm a normal girl - I love being with my friends, I love movies and books, I like writting, too. I love to walk, specially on cold days and specially at dusk. I love listening to music, I carry my mp3 at all times. I love the simple things in life... the little things.


10. What book are you reading right now?
- I'm not reading any book at the moment, sadly. I really want to, though. The last one I loved reading, and totally recommend, was "The Stranger" by Albert Camus

11. Is there something you would do anything needed to get it?
- Hum.. "anything"? No, I don't think so. I am a woman of principles. :)

12. Is there anything you couldn't live without?
- Well, currently, I couldn't live without internet. It gives me the music that I love, it presents me with new artists of every single craft, brilliant movies, inspirational videos, beautiful people... Yeah.. internet would be it.


13. What music do you like to listen to?
- I mostly like indie/folk/soft and progressive rock/experimental, but I also like blues, gospel, trip-hop and chill out.

14. What does it look like at where you are right now? How do you feel?
- I'm at my living room. My cat is sleeping on my lap (well, she's between me and the laptop ahah), I have my christmas tree right in front of me, and that makes me happy cause it reminds me that Christmas is almost here. :)

15. You have one wish - what would it be?
- To be able to keep doing the things that I'm passionate about.


16. Can you tell what you plan for 2011? Any new years resolutions?
- Traveling is at the top of the list. I really feel the urge to travel. 2011 is the year. :)

17. If you were a thing what would it be?
- A music sheet.

18. What are you proud of the most?
- You know... I got stuck on this question. I have no idea, really - which is sad, I guess. ahaha
It's kind of the whole issue of only wanting what others have, instead of cherishing what we have
Hum... but maybe the fact that I'm self-taught. Some say that I have many talents, but I can't really say that I feel proud about them specifically because they were always mine, so... It's not
like I worked hard to get them or anything like that, they were always there. Besides, I'm not amazingly brilliant doing any of them (singing, acting, photographing, dancing). But, yeah, I guess I'm proud that if they are a little bit above average it's because of me, it's my own doing. So... at the end of the day, I guess I'm proud of being a clever girl. :)

19. Do you have a favourite flower or smell?
- Favorite flowers: Orchids, dandelions, pom pom, baby's breath... I love flowers! ahaha I could go on and on. I'm really sensitive about smells. I rarely like men perfume, for example. Most men perfumes are just too strong, they literally give me a headache. So... I usually like sweet, fruity and soft smells, like jasmine flower and pretty much any fruit smell. Oh, also, cinnamon, candy, chocolate, mint, freshly cut grass and freshly washed laundry (and sheets!). Many, to tell the truth... I like to smell stuff.

Find Teresa at her flickr, deviantart, blog, tumblr and facebook. She deserves all your love!

Luisa Möhle

All I want to say to this photographer is that she is truly inspiring and has a great chance to be one of the best one day. Her point of view is somehow special and she makes you see exactly what she wants you to see inside of her pictures. Not many photographers are able to do that these days.



The artist's story:

1. First of all, how did you get to photography and what was your very first photo taken?
- The very first photo was an analogue one. It was the November when I turned 6 years old and my mum and I were in Fuerteventura on holidays. I clearly remember the walls made of white, sparkling pebbles and I am sure I photographed them. I got into photography years later, probably at the age of 16.

2. What equipment do you use?
- I have a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 attached. Nice camera, great lens.

3. Where do you live? Do you wish you lived somewhere else? (if yes, why so?)
- I live in a very small village near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. I am located between the Rhine Graben and the Black Forest with lots of beautiful places to take pictures. I'm sure there are plenty of awesome places in the world, but at the moment I can only imagine to move within Germany.

4. Your favourite photographer/musician/painter/film-maker?
- I don't have that kind of favourite something. I enjoy listening to different types of music, depending on the situation. And there are countless wonderful photographers out there, I couldn't decide for one.

5. Describe the place where you are right now for us, please.
- I'm sitting at my desk, in front of my new monitor. I'm still searching for a new space too keep all that stuff which had to be removed.

6. What was your last seen movie/exhibition? How did you feel about it?
- Some weeks ago I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1. I really liked the movie. I have never read Harry Potter, but I've seen every film and I'm now listening to the audio book version read by Stephen Fry.

7. What are a few things you can´t live without?
- Well, that's difficult. At first there's my beloved boyfriend. And I would miss all my family a lot. All kinds of material stuff might seem quite important, like my camera, my books or my computer, but I guess I could manage living without them if I had to. ;)

8. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- In the past I used to write poetry and short stories, I tried painting and drawing, but didn't succeed.

9. And the last question - where do you go for inspiration?
- Nature. Lovely people. Sometimes other photographies, too.

Find Luisa at her flickr, blog, website or at her facebook page, it is really worth any of your precious time.

Charlotte Boeyden

Photos I found in her flickr gallery really got to me. Expressive, impressive. The pureness with which she captures (innocent) beautiful sensitive moments is what makes them breathe on you.



The artist´s story:

1. First of all, how did you get to photography and what was your very first photo taken?
- I always had a certain sensibility for images and one day last year I just decided to go out and try it myself. I took my first self portrait. And I basically never stopped taking photos since.

2. What equipment do you use?
- Right now I just use an old canon from the seventies. Which is not even mine, though I pretend that it is.

3. Where do you live? Do you wish you lived somewhere else? (if yes, why so?)
- I'm from Antwerp, Belgium but at the moment I am studying/living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
I can think of lots of places where I would like to live. It's a bit of a contradiction, really. As a city girl I would love to live in Paris or Berlin, but as a photographer I dream of the most beautiful places in nature. The most versatile place would be my dream place.

4. Your favourite photographer/painter/film-maker?
- As for the first two: I have tons. I can't name them all and I can't choose. But my favorite film-maker is Sofia Coppola. I don't mind that being a cliché.

5. Describe the place where you are right now for us, please.
- It's my workspace and it's awfully messy. I just had evaluations at school. To give you an impression of the things on my table: a camera, a printer, a scanner, teacups, film rolls, crochet needles, yarn, a bottle of wine, a soldering iron, a drill, books, photos, way too many papers, a magazine, a screwdriver and other utensils, an empty cake box (for a cake yet to be baked), etc.
It's quite a big white space with light wooden furniture, most of it made by my boyfriend and me. (read as: he made it all, I just made the rocking chair) A record player, a hamster cage (made by my boyfriend again) with our dearest hamster, lots of books and equipment.

6. What was your last seen movie/exhibition? How did you feel about it?
- The last movie was Danny the world champion, by a book of Roald Dahl. It was a very sweet movie so it made me feel good. The last exhibition was the Graduation Show in my school during dutch design week. It made me feel proud to be in the same school, and also a teeny bit afraid of what's ahead of me.

7. What are a few things you can´t live without?
- My clothes, my camera, my boyfriend and sad but true: my computer.

8. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- I go to a design school so I make a lot of drawings and paintings and I work on different kinds of projects. But I wouldn't categorize them as art. I wouldn't call my photos art either.

9. And the last question - where do you go for inspiration?
- Into the world, with my eyes wide open.

Go take a look at her flickr and show some well-deserved love and feedback. You can also visit her website.

Chiara

She seems to be a beholder of the world. She captures everything around her with a sensitivity people might kill for. Experimenting might take lifes but luckily, it works for her. Her passion for taking pictures of animals is almost the same as her passion for taking pictures of people. And that´s good. Because people are not the only ones.




Here´s the artists life:

1. What’s your real name? Do you wish you had any other name? Or did you ever use a pseudonym?
- My real name is Chiara. In the internet I usually use a pseudonym; most of the time I use “her voices”.

2. Where do you live and for how long? Your wish-I-lived-in country?
- Since my birth I live in Italy, so it’s nineteen years. But there are many countries where I wish I lived. I especially love France, England and Sweden.

3. When did you find out you like photography? What was your first photo ever taken?
- I've discovered photography thanks to my father. I started taking photographs about 3 years ago. The first photos I’ve taken was of summer holidays.

4. What equipment do you use?
- I take photos with a Canon 450D. Sometimes I use my father’s film camera, a Nikkormat T3.

5. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- Unfortunately not.

6. Is there anything you couldn’t live without?
- The people I love. Then music, books, cats and photography. And a phon.

7. Is there something you really can’t stand?
- Ignorance, superficiality, egocentrism, humidity.

8. Where do you go for inspiration?
- I'm influenced by other photographers, art and cinema, the world around me, music, literature.

9. Do you have your favourite photographers?
- Sam Taylor-Wood, Lasse Hoile, Francesca Woodman, Robert Doisneau, Federica Simoni, Elizaveta Porodina and many more.

10. What is your favourite thing to do?
- To stay with people I love.

11. If you were a thing what would it be?
- It would be a cup of tea. Reserved and warm.

Show some love to her at her flickr.

(And if you know some artists who definitelly deserve our attention, please let me know at laylarouge@yahoo.com and I will take a look for sure.)

Sirbion

I don´t think I am going to say anything to this man. Just.. please, be kind to his english, he really tried. And you don´t t need any language for his photographs, so let´s break the language barrier.


His words:

1. What´s your real name? Do you wish you had any other name? Or did you ever use a pseudonym?
- My name is Alexander. I like my name. Vinternete I use a pseudonym - Sirbion.

2. Where do you live and for how long? Your wish-I-lived-in country?
- I live in Russia in the city of Voronezh. Always wanted to live in Finland, I really like this country.

3. When did you find out you like photography? What was your first photo ever taken?
- I began to seriously pursue photography about 2 years ago. My first photograph was a picture of a bee, which I won two competitions.

4. What equipment do you use?
- I filmed the Canon 5D. Sometimes I take pictures on the camera Lubitel-2 and Leica-II, but only for themselves and for pleasure.

5. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- I used to draw, now I just take pictures.

6. Is there anything you couldn´t live without?
- I can not live without my loved one and the weather. I can never resist the opportunity to make a couple of good shots in fine weather, even when I'm busy with other things.

7. Where do you go for inspiration?
- For inspiration, I usually look at art-house films, often with a sad ending. For me, this is the best tutor to be creative.

8. Do you have your favourite photographers?
- I have lots of favorites, such as Nick Lisitsyn, Ruslan Lobanov, Gennady Tarakanov.

You can find Sirbion at his deviantArt and take a look at his whole gallery.

Katerina Dmitrieva

She seems to be somewhere far from here.. not her body, but her mind. She also seems to be living in different time. She is talented and pretty and nice. She captures her world - that is one of the things that really caught my attention when I browsed through her gallery for the first time. And I had to come back and see the photos again. Again. And then once more. In her older works, she captured more of a darkness and gothic stuff. I admit, I am not really into that. But what she captures now totally got me. Sometimes it feels like there is a piece of me hidden somewhere in the picture and as I look at it, it recognizes me and I recognize that and.. we know we exist. She definitely deserves more attention and feedback. Because for her, capturing feelings is not impossible.

(this one is my favourite one.. I always come back to it)

What she says about herself:

1. Do you remember your first experience with photography? How did you get to being a photographer?
- Relatively recently, almost two years ago i started to treat and percieve photography as something artistic. before this it was just chronological recording of life.

2. Your inspiration and ideas - where do you go for them?
- Ideas are mostly evoked by images from inside, sometimes they are insired by photo-works of other photographers, books, films and inspiration comes when you find people you want to shoot and when your inner state corresponds to it.

3. Age means nothing in the game of love - but here we talk about talent and skills - when is your birthday?
- 16.01.1992

4. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
- Originally i'm from Kaliningrad, Russia, but now i live in Minsk, Belarus.

5. Which time of year is your favourite? (meaning spring, summer, autumn, winter)
- Every season is good in its own way, so it's hard to single out one. Still early fall more appeals to me, the time when it's no longer hot like in summer, but not cold yet.

6. What are your favourite things to do?
- In addition to photographing - Creativity, in any form.

7. Who do you admire? If there is someone you could say that about.
- When talking about creativity, it varies a lot for me. i can pick out some authors whose works please my eye all the time. They are Annet Pehrsson ([link]),Oprisko Oleg ([link]),Alexander Veledzimovic ([link]), Levankova Anna([link]),Katia Smuraga ([link])...
On the whole, there are ordinary people who call forth my admiration, but they are not some popular or well-known ones.

8. What equipment do you use? Any reason for that?
- Because i can't afford something better so far.

You can find Katerina at her deviantArt and enjoy more of her photos.

Katherine White

A Russian artist with her real name Ekaterina, who makes an amazing self-portraits. With such a beauty and innocence, she captures every weakness of hers - without any fear to be hurt from the outside. Her softness with which she makes her art is breathtaking. At most of her photos you can see her at the time when she is not really strong, more hurt and afraid - like a little sad kitten. From what I have seen she is a complicated personality and needs much more understanding than she gets.
(But of course she is not only a self-portrait artist, she also takes pictures of nature and the world around. And those photos deserve attention, too.)





Read the artist´s words:

1. Do you wish you had any other name than you have? Or did you ever use a pseudonym?
- I usually use "Kate" in the internet, because I like it too, it's an analog for my real name and it's less complicated. Most of the time I use "cloudnine" as a screen name, I like how it sounds, and I got used to it.

2. Where do you live and for how long? Your wish-I-lived-in country?
- I live in Moscow, Russia, for my whole life. I was born here. I traveled quite a lot, and sometimes I wish to move to another country, but I'm not sure it's possible for me now, as I haven't finished my university yet, and I don't know any ways for immigration.

3. A little about your art - when did you find out you like photography? What was your first photo ever taken? And what equipment do you use?
- I started taking photographs about 6 years ago, with my parents' digital compact, and after some time I realized I liked it, so I asked for a more "professional" camera for my 16th birthday, that's when the real journey started. I've been taking photographs with Nikon D70 for 4 years, and then a year and a half ago I upgraded it with Nikon D90. Sometimes I use film cameras, such as Nikon F80, Olympus XA2, Seagull 4B-I and some other. I'm planning to get some serious medium format, and now I'm in a process of collecting money for it.

4. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- I don't count it as art, but I draw occasionally, also I enjoy knitting and making little notebooks.

5. Share a few things you love and you couldn´t live without.
- I like music and books, does it count? (oh, sure it does, why not?)

6. And a few things you can´t stand?
- I can't stand big noisy crowds, as I'm quite introverted, a little bit antisocial and lone. And many other things.

7. Where do you go for inspiration?
- Right now I'm out of it, but I watch movies, explore new music and look at other photographers' work.

8. Do you have your favourite photographers?
- My favorites are Stephen Shore, Paolo Roversi, Jonathan Leder, Adam Golfer, Joel Sternfeld, Gregory Crewdson, Jeff Brouws and others.

9. What is your favourite thing to do?
- To be in some beautiful place and have a camera with me, so I can take a chance in capturing the view.

Give some well-deserved feedback to this great photographer at her flickr and at her lovely blog.

Laura Makabresku

She has hair like not many people and a look many men (and women) would die for. She takes her photos in a not common way - dead animals, woods, herself and her Man. It seems like she would like to capture her inside world she lives in, seems like she has a message for us - I don´t need your world, I have my own.
The tones in which her photographs usually are is so unique you could say, out of seeing one of that pictures, it is taken by her. You would hardly find someone so themselves as she is, with such a strong personality (I would say) she has. And that is exactly what you see in her photos.




Read the good-night story and let her take you far from here:

1. What is your real name? Do you wish you had any other name? Or did you ever use a pseudonym?
- my real name is laura kamila kansy. laura makabresku is my alias which I use since I can remember and which has a great value for me ("makabresku" is sth terrifying and grotesque simultaneously like some nightmares. I try to make my works in the way so they would remind dreams - strange and with unrest). "Kamila" is my "bright" side, "Laura" is the other one, "dark" (it's connected with schizophrenia - cutting off from another personality it's easier to interpret some of behaviours, but it's a long story).

2. Where do you live and for how long? Your wish-I-lived-in country?
- since my birth I live in poland (so it's 22 years). it's a very misterious land, which I link with witches that lives in forests. there's a lot of dark magic here. since I went to study, I live in Cracow (it's an old Polish capital city) - full of old apartment houses, hackneys and pigeons.

3. A little about your art - when did you find out you like photography? What was your first photo ever taken?
- I've discovered photography thanks to my Lad. It was him, who gave me my first camera when we met. I've started to gather photos to our own library to have a keepsake from places where we went and tracks that we left on our skins. the first photo I took was him. it was a long walk, when we drank wine and kissed each other.

4. Do you produce any other kind of art?
- before I've started with photography I had other passion - literature. since I am 13 I write poems. they are generally love poems, erotic. I would like to publish a book in future - autobiography, in which I would tell a story about Laura and Kamila (about schizophrenia).

5. Share a few things you love and you couldn´t live without, please.
- I love music, poetry, white wine (traminer graft), rose milk for body and darszan scent. the only thing that I could not live without is my Lad. anyway.. we want to die togehter but it's... a different story.

6. And a few things you can´t stand?
- cold in my feets, lack of sensitivity, lack of emotions.

7. Where do you go for inspiration?
- I'm inspired by sensitivity and darkness. I think that much of my inspiration I obtain from my sickness (or maybe should I say a gift rather than sickness?)

8. Do you have your favourite photographers?
- favourites? I can't tell now. there was a time when I hold works of paolo roversi in great esteem. today I'm bored with them, I have a felling that he stoped and discontinued his development. I do admire some photographers from flickr but it's too many of them to count.

9. Do you have any favourite animal? Is there any reason why?
- I love owls. maybe because they are symbol of death and darkness. they are connected with forests which unrests with their secrets. I like foxes too. anyway.. I have in my home plenty of dead animals from my grandfather. sometimes I feel that I grew up beside death.

10. ...
I don't have anything in common with myself

Find Laura at her flickr and deviantArt.

Ezgi Polat

Ezgi Polat is a photographer who I´ve known about for a few years now. I have always been fascinated by her personal and original style with which she takes her photos - most of the time on film. Details she captures might seem ordinary and boring stuff of everyday life to someone but when she takes her camera and makes it "forever", it seems like it is a completely new thing for us to see. A few (master)pieces of hers - and since she doesn´t want to say anything about herself, it is the only thing that is left for you to do.


You can find her at her flickr | blog | deviantArt | website .

Erica Lucy

This lovely photographer has caught my attention with her originality, expressed in many different ways. I find her interesting because behind every of her photos, there is a story that talks the whole time I look at it. For example, at the picture you see below (girl-boy) you can feel so much emotions even thought they don´t move or talk. How she captures moments is amazing.
See some of her artworks:

(this one is my favourite.. I could watch it for hours and still see something lovely)


Read the artist´s words!

What´s your real name? Do you wish you had any other name? Or did you ever use a pseudonym?
- My real name is Erica Lucy. When I was young I hated my last name because my nickname was "I love Lucy". I wanted to change it but now I kind of find it quirky and fun. :)

Where do you live and for how long? Your wish-I-lived-in country?
- I'm originally from Mississippi, I grew up in the southern United States and although I love it it can be very boring as I'm from a rural area. For the past four years I've been living in Philadelphia for college and I loved it! I'm hoping to move back once I start graduate School. There are to many countries I wished I lived in but I really love Japan, France, and Sweden.

A little about your art - when did you find out you like photography? What was your first photo ever taken?
- I've always been interested in art. And I decided I wanted to work in photography when I was very young. I haven't a clue when I first started taking photos but I was always the one taking pictures with the family camera, so there are many strange photos in our family photo albums. :)

What equipment do you use?
- Digital: Canon 30D with a 50 mm lens
Film: I have a Zenit-e, Canon eos k-2, Fed-5, and Yashica medium format camera. I've also used a Toyo 4x5 large format camera and a Hasselblad but they were school equipment. And I can't say for sure what the lens sizes are for any of them though sorry.

Do you produce any other kind of art?
- I've done everything. But I really love screen printing, drawing, pottery, book making, and mix media. In high school I even used to make puppets out of found objects. So I guess I've tried a lot of different things.

Share a few things you love and you couldn´t live without, please.
- I guess my cameras and maybe my silly boyfriend. :)

And a few things you can´t stand?
- Ignorant people are very hard to deal with.

Where do you go for inspiration?
- I'm very observant so I spend a lot of time just watching the world around me, also I work at a natural science museum so I'm always finding inspiration there. I'm also very influenced by other photographers and art in general.

Do you have your favourite photographers?
- Moriyama Daido, Alec Soth, and Nan Goldin are all very different but wonderful in their own way.

...
- I'm a wallflower.

You can find Erica at flickr and at her blog. Give her some support she truly deserves!

I have been thinking about doing this for a long time now. I don´t even know where I got this idea, it just came to me and puf, here we are. I feel like there are artists that really need more attention because they work hard and they are more than undervalueded. This comes from my passion for photography and art in general. Let´s support those who deserve it!
Very first artist to appear here, is coming in a few days. I´ll try to do my best with this whole thing.
Keep fingers crossed for me, please.