Link to audio file:
and also HERE: RTV 365
This is how we discussed my photography and thoughts with Chris Wherry for an audio piece on Radio SI. We’ve had to shorten it for the radio (too much on my mind when I start thinking about what I love doing), but you can read my complete flow of thoughts here below:
*** Prispevek je v angleščini. Za lažje razumevanje je na dnu strani še dobesedni, generični prevod v slovenščino (nisem si vzela časa, da ga sfriziram v lepši tekst). S Chrisom sva se srečala na moji ljubi lokaciji, na vrhu domačega kuclja. To je eden tistih izzivov, o katerih govorim v tretjem delu. Ne bi si mislila, da bom kdaj v angleščini razmišljala o sebi – na radiu! Iz srca hvala Chrisu, da verjame vame in podpira moje fotografsko ustvarjanje!
Welcome to Tomaž, a place I’ve been visiting since childhood. For more than 30 years, I lived nearby, in the heart of the countryside and nature. Forests and meadows were my home. I’ve always felt more connected to nature than to humans, and that strong connection has been a constant in my life. My need to explore nature, to lie in the grass and listen to it grow, has always been a part of who I am. However, life circumstances forced me to move from the countryside to the town. While living in a flat has its positive sides, the transition was hard.
My connection to nature is still very much alive, and I often feel the need to escape the concrete of the town to find peace and quiet in the mountains, hills, forests, and rivers. Nature heals me and gives me energy. It resets my mind and body. As a society, we are losing our connection to our origins, to nature, and to the natural order. Modern trends like eco, bio, sustainable, and natural living are just weak band-aids on the deep civilizational wound we’ve inflicted upon ourselves. We are destroying life on the planet on a massive scale, and that makes me really sad. Humankind as a whole makes me sad. We are not progressing in the right direction.
I often walk to Tomaž from Vojnik to recharge myself with nature. It’s a place filled with beautiful memories, from my childhood to my wedding, which was held here 17 years ago. I wanted a peaceful, romantic wedding in nature, where my heart felt happy. Speaking of childhood memories, let me link this to photography.
Photography has been an essential need for me for as far back as I can remember. I have a really bad memory, and I remember big parts of my life only because I have photographs from those times. Photography is a document of my life, a way to preserve my memories—a documentary in images. I have a big cabinet full of old photo albums, and nowadays, I print a yearly photobook, which is more convenient than heavy, bulky albums. My mom used cheap small cameras to document my early childhood. I can’t remember when I bought my first real camera gear—I’d have to look it up in my albums. It was a Canon EOS 3000 N with a 28-80mm kit lens, an analog camera. In 2002, we had the first digital camera at work, and I could borrow it for my needs. That’s where the digital world started for me. I’ve experienced the entire era of technological development in photography, from then to now, and I can predict the near future of photo equipment.
Currently, I use a Canon EOS R6, and I love the advantages of mirrorless technology. I also own a variety of Canon and Sigma lenses. It’s funny that the Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens has become kind of my signature. People recognize me by the equipment I use. It’s a very versatile but also quite big and heavy lens, and I use it a lot, mostly for travel, nature, sports, and more. Many of my famous landscape photos were taken with this lens. It’s the beauty of compressed perspective that the telephoto lens offers me. At 600mm, distant things come closer, and I search for compositions in the landscape to bring them nearer.
My photography journey began in 2008, at work, during an architectural project meeting. I was showing my photos in a casual chat when one of the partners on the project told me I had good photos and invited me to join the local photo club. I was an individualist, somewhat antisocial, so this proposal posed a great challenge to me. I took it as an opportunity for personal growth, to step out of my comfort zone. Learning more about photography was a collateral benefit of this challenge. The photo club was really active, with lots of lectures, photo critiques, and competitions. I learned a lot in a short time and won my first international photo awards in 2009. That’s when my photography turned from documentary to more artistic and expressive. I learned the theoretical basics of photography and felt a new need to express myself through images.
But in fact, I’ve always seen the world around me in “frames.” It’s the way I function. I see pictures. My memories are pictures, not data. This has been within me all along, unconsciously. Now, I just recognize this way of functioning and consciously connect it to the photographic medium. It’s important to find what lies within you, bring it to the surface, and refine it.
I’ve always been creative, from early childhood—drawing, painting, creating. I remember my mother’s words every time she entered my room: “Oh, spet nekaj čaraš” (Oh, you’re conjuring something again). It didn’t sound encouraging, in fact. Then, I studied architecture, as it’s a wonderful combination of technology and art. I’m an architect by profession and work as an architect in practice. But I’m not just committed to architecture—I also express myself in other creative areas: photography, content writing, design, travel, education, events, and much more. I couldn’t focus narrowly on just one thing. Maybe that’s why I’m just an average architect, but I have great pleasure in working interdisciplinary. That brings me a much wider creative range and perhaps allows me to grow a wider knowledge and experience, becoming a better personality.
It’s really all about how much of yourself you put into your work. Who you are reflects in your work. Your knowledge and attitude toward everything are part of your creative expression, your signature. This makes me humble. I’m at a stage in life where I know that I know nothing. It feels like I’m always at the beginning. There’s so much to learn in one short life.
Interestingly, I don’t do much architectural photography, though I enjoy contributing quality buildings to society through my architectural practice. In photography, I’m much more attracted to the aesthetics of landscapes, nature, and places far from human crowds. I guess this is all about my essence, my connection to the land and nature. In fact, I love photography as a medium. I don’t actually divide it into different genres. I can do portraits, sports, night photography, street, events, travel, animals—all with the same passion for creativity. I just love finding the aesthetic in each moment and seeking stories in every place.
It seems I can skillfully connect landscape photos with stories. I received huge recognition for this skill when I was declared the best travel photographer in the world in 2023 by the TPOTY project, which receives thousands of photos from all over the planet. Being chosen as a winner was a huge surprise and honor. I was awarded for two short photo series—one about agriculture on rolling hills and the second about hop growing.
The agricultural story is about Tuscany and South Moravia, where endless fields stretch over heavily eroded landscapes of rolling hills. My photos were like a poem about the beauty of these landscapes and the role of humans in shaping them. I find so much beauty in raw, naked landscapes, when the fields are empty and the soil is prepared for a new season. So many textures, geometries, and colors of earth.
The second story is about seasonal workers who come to Savinjska Valley each spring to tie new strings in the hop fields. These workers have trouble connecting to the local environment, as they don’t speak the language and are somehow pushed to the margins of society. They have to tie strings to the local society, too. The physical strings they tie create an awesome curtain in the landscape that I can’t stop admiring. So, it’s a story about the aesthetics of strings in the landscape and portraits of people who also string connections.
It’s obvious from my photos that I’m attached to the countryside. I lived most of my life there and still find my peace there. I appreciate the earth, the soil that gives life. I appreciate the people who work wisely with the soil and natural resources. In everything I see, I can find the aesthetic note. I remember a friend telling me years ago that I could make a wonderful photo even of a pile of manure.
Many of my photos come from my travels, so it’s no wonder people mark me as a travel photographer. In recent years, I’ve traveled extensively across Europe as part of a team that organizes trips for photographers. Every time, it’s a wonderful experience, and of course, I take many photos.
But you really don’t need to travel all around the planet to make good photos. Sometimes, the best photo might happen just around the corner of your home. My first successful photo was taken from my balcony, capturing the shadows cast by chairs and a table on the ground texture below. It was a many-times-awarded photo, and I named it “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” So, if you can’t afford to travel, no worries—just open your eyes to what you experience around yourself, wherever you are.
I’ve had some travel behind me, and I can recognize the bad side of mass travel. It has a destructive power, too. Once lovely, unique places are now becoming similar to every other place. Places are losing their identity due to the overflow of tourism. You can hardly experience the real spirit of a place when it’s full of visitors and tourist facilities. Most local customs are just played for tourists. The planet is becoming one big global village. Tourism does bring money, and that should bring progress, but it seems like this progress itself ruins the soul of the place—the genius loci, the unique atmosphere, character, and essence of the location. And we’re not contributing to a greener planet with mass travel.
I believe we should be moderate in our travel plans. You don’t really need to go to all the travel destinations—sometimes, a good documentary movie gives you more than a typical tourist visit. We could travel more locally; there’s so much interesting to experience and see nearby. We should be aware of the environment we’re entering and be respectful. Especially as photographers, trying to capture a good image at any cost…
I see a problem in the fast, digital way of life, in social media. We all want to present the best about ourselves—perfect, happy, always active, better than others. It’s a race for digital perfection. The Instagram era, instant life, instant travel, instant photography. There’s a list of must-have photos in each country you visit, a list of Instagram photo points. You come, take a selfie, post it on social media, and you’re done. You haven’t been there if you don’t post it on social media. You don’t exist if you’re not on social media. It has become a must-have, even in the business world. But what have you gained from Instagram travel? What has a place given you? What have you learned? What is your contribution to the place you visited?
And then there’s the photographer’s frustration—everyone wants to make different and better photos than others in the same place. People sometimes do crazy stuff to be different. Do we really need all this circus?
I’ve won quite some awards for my photography at what’s usually called “photography competitions.” But I hate that expression. You can’t possibly compete in art. It’s not a sport; you can’t measure it. There are objective criteria to judge a photo, but that’s only part of the process. Art is much more than the sharpness of an image or good composition. Who are we to judge which piece of art is the best from hundreds of good photographs? I’m often part of the judging process, and I dislike the term “judging.” I prefer calling it “selection.”
The selection can be very objective but is always also subjective. It depends on the jury members. Each person has their own view, and it even depends on the mood of the judge that day. So, I say photo competitions are like playing the lottery. You do need good photography to get an award, but it’s just a better ticket for the lottery. Anyway, receiving many awards is a sign you’re doing something well. It means your photographs stand out from the crowd in some way, and that’s the recognition every photographer is happy to receive. I’m always happy to have my photos chosen in the narrow selection of the best, but I’m very aware that many other photos have the same or better qualities than mine.
Creativity is endless. There’s enough of it for everyone. There’s really no need to use the term “photography competition.” It’s just about the selections we make. There’s a list of my favorite photo awards, of course, but I won’t mention them here. Feel free to visit my webpage, mojevesolje.si, which means “my universe.you are” if I translate it, and browse my photo galleries and the list of awards.
To me, after all these years, photography is still joy, relaxation, creativity, and a hobby. Even when I work as a photographer on a project, I don’t call it work. It’s a creative challenge. Yes, challenge is a good word for it because you never know what the opportunity will bring. There are so many variables in each shoot. I often use the expression “I play with photography.” Perhaps it’s because I simply don’t want it to become a boring craft or industry. I need it as a form of passion and relaxation.
When traveling, I first enjoy the exploration, the adventure, the spirit of the place, the energy, the light, the ambiance. Then, I transform my experience into photos. It’s all very spontaneous. I put myself into my photos, and spontaneity is my middle name.
It’s hard to say where my photography will lead me in the future. I’m not a person of plans. I let life flow. I open doors to peek inside, and if it’s interesting, I enter. In recent years, I’ve accepted many huge challenges—I wasn’t sure I was up to them, but they were good opportunities to learn new things and for personal growth. I never would have thought I’d drive a van full of photographers all around Europe. I do lectures and teach photography. I write professional photography content. Through different channels, I help photographers gain new knowledge and experience. And every now and then, a new challenge awaits me.
The point is not to be afraid of new challenges, not to be afraid of failure. Because you do fail, every now and then. You just have to say yes, step outside your safe box, accept the challenge, grow, and learn with it. It can only make you stronger and better as a person.
***
Dobrodošli na Tomaž, kraj, ki ga obiskujem že od otroštva. Več kot 30 let sem živela v bližini, v srcu podeželja in narave. Gozdovi in travniki so bili moj dom. Vedno sem se počutila bolj povezana z naravo kot z ljudmi in ta močna povezava je bila stalnica v mojem življenju. Moja potreba po raziskovanju narave, po tem, da ležim v travi in poslušam, kako raste, je vedno bila del mene. Vendar so me življenjske okoliščine prisilile, da sem se preselila s podeželja v mesto. Čeprav ima življenje v stanovanju svoje prednosti, je bil prehod težak.
Moja povezava z naravo je še vedno zelo živa in pogosto čutim potrebo po tem, da pobegnem od betona mesta k miru in tišini gora, hribov, gozdov in rek. Narava me zdravi in mi daje energijo. Ponastavi mi um in telo. Kot družba izgubljamo povezavo s svojim izvorom, z naravo in naravnim redom. Sodobni trendi, kot so eko, bio, trajnostno in sonaravno, so le šibki obliži na globoko civilizacijsko rano, ki smo si jo zadali. Uničujemo življenje na planetu v velikem obsegu in to me resnično žalosti. Človeštvo kot celota me žalosti. Ne napredujemo v pravi smeri.
Pogosto hodim do Tomaža iz Vojnika, da se napolnim z naravo. To je kraj, poln lepih spominov, od otroštva do moje poroke, ki sem jo imela tu pred 17 leti. Želela sem si mirno, romantično poroko v naravi, kjer je bilo moje srce srečno. Ko govorimo o spominih iz otroštva, naj to povežem s fotografijo.
Fotografija je bila moja osnovna potreba, kolikor daleč nazaj se spominjam. Imam zelo slab spomin in velike dele svojega življenja se spominjam samo zato, ker imam fotografije iz tistih časov. Fotografija je dokument mojega življenja, način, kako ohraniti svoje spomine – dokumentarec v slikah. Imam veliko omaro, polno starih fotoalbumov, danes pa vsako leto tiskam fotoknjigo, ki je bolj priročna kot težki in zajetni albumi. Moja mama je uporabljala poceni majhne fotoaparate in moje zgodnje otroštvo je dokumentirala ona. Ne spomnim se, kdaj sem kupila svoj prvi pravi fotoaparat – morala bi pogledati v svoje albume. Bil je Canon EOS 3000 N s kit objektivom 28-80 mm, analogni fotoaparat. Leta 2002 smo imeli na delovnem mestu prvi digitalni fotoaparat in sem ga lahko sposodila za svoje potrebe. Tam se je zame začel digitalni svet. Doživela sem celotno obdobje tehnološkega razvoja v fotografiji od takrat do danes in lahko napovem tudi bližnjo prihodnost foto opreme.
Trenutno uporabljam Canon EOS R6 in obožujem prednosti brezzrcalne tehnologije. Imam tudi različne objektive Canon in Sigma. Smešno je, da je objektiv Sigma 60-600 mm Sports postal nekakšen moj podpis. Ljudje me prepoznajo po opremi, ki jo uporabljam. Je zelo vsestranski, a precej velik in težek objektiv, ki ga veliko uporabljam, predvsem za potovanja, naravo, šport in več. Številne moje znane krajinske fotografije so bile posnete s tem objektivom. Lepota stisnjene perspektive, ki mi jo ponuja teleobjektiv, je neverjetna. Pri 600 mm se oddaljene stvari približajo in iščem kompozicije v pokrajini, da jih približam.
Moja fotografska pot se je začela leta 2008 na delovnem mestu, med sestankom o arhitekturnem projektu. V pogovoru sem pokazala svoje fotografije in eden od partnerjev na projektu mi je rekel, da imam dobre fotografije, in me povabil, da se pridružim lokalnemu fotoklubu. Bila sem individualistka, nekoliko antisocialna, zato je bil ta predlog zame velik izziv. Sprejela sem ga kot priložnost za osebnostno rast, da stopim iz svojega cone udobja. Učenje o fotografiji je bil stranski učinek tega izziva. Fotoklub je bil zelo aktiven, s številnimi predavanji, kritikami fotografij in tekmovanji. V kratkem času sem se veliko naučila in leta 2009 prejela svoje prve mednarodne nagrade za fotografijo. Takrat se je moja fotografija preoblikovala iz dokumentarne v bolj umetniško in izrazno. Naučila sem se teoretičnih osnov fotografije in začutila novo potrebo po izražanju skozi slike.
A v resnici sem svet okoli sebe vedno videla v »okvirjih«. Tako delujem. Vidim slike. Moji spomini so slike, ne podatki. To je bilo v meni ves čas, nezavedno. Zdaj prepoznam ta način delovanja in ga zavestno povežem s fotografskim medijem. Pomembno je, da najdeš, kaj imaš v sebi, to pripelješ na površje in izpopolniš.
Od zgodnjega otroštva sem bila vedno ustvarjalna – risala, slikala, ustvarjala. Spominjam se besed svoje mame, vsakič ko je vstopila v mojo sobo: »Oh, spet nekaj čaraš.« V resnici ni zvenelo vzpodbudno. Nato sem študirala arhitekturo, saj je to čudovita kombinacija tehnologije in umetnosti. Po poklicu sem arhitektka in delam kot arhitektka v praksi. Ampak nisem vezana samo na arhitekturo – izražam se tudi na drugih ustvarjalnih področjih: fotografija, pisanje vsebin, oblikovanje, potovanja, izobraževanje, dogodki in še veliko več. Nisem se mogla osredotočiti le na eno stvar. Morda sem zato le povprečna arhitektka, vendar imam veliko veselje pri interdisciplinarnem delu. To mi prinaša veliko širši ustvarjalni razpon in morda mi omogoča, da pridobim širše znanje in izkušnje ter postanem boljša osebnost.
Vse se vrti okoli tega, koliko sebe vložiš v svoje delo. Kdo si, se odraža v tvojem delu. Tvoje znanje in odnos do vsega sta del tvojega ustvarjalnega izražanja, tvojega podpisa. To me naredi ponižno. Sem na stopnji življenja, ko vem, da ne vem nič. Počutim se, kot da sem vedno na začetku. V enem kratkem življenju se je potrebno toliko naučiti…
Zanimivo je, da ne posnamem veliko arhitekturnih fotografij, zelo pa uživam v tem, da s svojo arhitekturno prakso prispevam kakovostne zgradbe družbi. V fotografiji me veliko bolj privlačijo estetika pokrajin, narave in krajev daleč od človeške gneče. Verjetno je to vse povezano z mojo bitjo, z mojo povezavo z zemljo in naravo. Pravzaprav obožujem fotografijo kot medij. Ne delim je na različne zvrsti. Lahko delam portrete, šport, nočno fotografijo, ulico, dogodke, potovanja, živali – vse z enako strastjo do ustvarjalnosti. Rada najdem estetiko v vsakem trenutku in iščem zgodbe v vsakem kraju.
Zdi se, da znam spretno povezovati krajinske fotografije z zgodbami. Veliko priznanje za to spretnost sem prejela, ko so me leta 2023 razglasili za najboljšo popotno fotografinjo na svetu v okviru projekta TPOTY, ki prejme tisoče fotografij z vsega planeta. Izbira za zmagovalko je bila veliko presenečenje in čast. Nagrajena sem bila za dve kratki fotoseriji – eno o kmetijstvu na valovitih hribih in drugo o pridelovanju hmelja.
Agrikulturna zgodba govori o Toskani in Južni Moravski, kjer se neskončna polja raztezajo po močno erodirani pokrajini valovitih hribov. Moje fotografije so kot pesem o lepoti teh pokrajin in vlogi človeka pri oblikovanju le-teh. V surovih, golih pokrajinah, ko so polja prazna in je tla pripravljena za novo sezono, najdem toliko lepote. Toliko tekstur, geometrij in barv zemlje.
Druga zgodba govori o sezonskih delavcih, ki vsako pomlad prihajajo v Savinjsko dolino, da privežejo nove vrvice na hmeljevih poljih. Ti delavci imajo težave pri povezovanju z lokalnim okoljem, saj ne govorijo jezika in so nekako potisnjeni na rob družbe.Vrvice morajo povezovati tudi z lokalno družbo. Fizične niti, ki jih privežejo, ustvarijo neverjetno zaveso v pokrajini, ki je ne morem nehajati občudovati. Tako je to zgodba o estetiki vrvic v pokrajini in portretih ljudi, ki prav tako vzpostavljajo povezave.
Iz mojih fotografij je očitno, da sem navezana na podeželje. Večino svojega življenja sem živela tam in še vedno tam najdem svoj mir. Cenim zemljo, tla, ki dajejo življenje. Cenim ljudi, ki modro delajo s tlemi in naravnimi viri. V vsem, kar vidim, najdem estetsko noto. Spominjam se, da mi je prijateljica pred leti rekla, da bi lahko posnela čudovito fotografijo tudi samo kupa gnoja.
Veliko mojih fotografij prihaja z mojih potovanj, zato ni čudno, da me ljudje označujejo za popotno fotografinjo. V zadnjih letih sem veliko potovala po Evropi kot del ekipe, ki organizira potovanja za fotografe. Vsakič je to čudovita izkušnja in seveda nastane veliko fotografij.
A v resnici ni potrebno potovati po vsem planetu, da bi naredili dobre fotografije. Včasih se najboljša fotografija zgodi tik za vogalom tvojega doma. Moja prva uspešna fotografija je bila posneta z mojega balkona, kjer so struktuirane stoli in mizica metali čudovite sence na teksturo tal. Ta fotografija je bila večkrat nagrajena in sem jo poimenovala »Bitter Sweet Symphony«. Torej, če si ne morete privoščiti potovanja, brez skrbi – samo odprite oči za to, kar doživljate okoli sebe, kjer koli ste.
Imam nekaj potovanj za seboj in prepoznam tudi slabo plat množičnega potovanja. Ima uničevalno moč. Nekoč čudoviti, edinstveni kraji postajajo podobni vsem drugim. Kraji izgubljajo svojo identiteto zaradi prevelikega turizma. Težko doživiš pravega duha kraja, ko je poln obiskovalcev in turističnih objektov. Večina lokalnih običajev je igranih za turiste. Planet postaja ena velika globalna vas. Turizem prinaša denar, kar bi moralo prinašati napredek, vendar se zdi, da ta napredek sam uničuje dušo kraja – genius loci, edinstveno vzdušje, značaj in bistvo lokacije. In z množičnim potovanjem ne prispevamo k bolj zelenemu planetu.
Verjamem, da bi morali biti zmerni v svojih načrtih za potovanje. Ni potrebno obiskati vseh destinacij – včasih ti dober dokumentarni film da več kot običajen turistični obisk. Lahko bi potovali bolj lokalno; v bližini je toliko zanimivega za doživeti in videti. Zavedati se moramo okolja, v katerega vstopamo, in biti spoštljivi. Še posebej kot fotografi, ko poskušamo ujeti dobro sliko za vsako ceno…
Vidim težavo v hitrem, digitalnem načinu življenja, v družbenih omrežjih. Vsi želimo prikazati najboljše o sebi – popolne, srečne, vedno aktivne, boljše od drugih. To je tekma za digitalno popolnost. Era Instagrama, instant življenje, instant potovanja, instant fotografija. Obstaja seznam obveznih fotografij za vsako državo, ki jo obiščeš, seznam Instagram točk. Prideš, narediš selfie, objaviš na družbenih omrežjih in to je to. Nisi bil tam, če tega nisi objavil na družbenih omrežjih. Ne obstajaš, če nisi na družbenih omrežjih. To je postalo obvezno, tudi v poslovnem svetu. Ampak kaj si pridobil od Instagram potovanj? Kaj ti je kraj dal? Kaj si se naučil? Kakšen je tvoj prispevek kraju, ki si ga obiskal?
In potem je tu še frustracija fotografov – vsi želimo narediti drugačne in boljše fotografije od drugih na istem mestu. Ljudje včasih delajo nore stvari, da bi bili drugačni. Ali res potrebujemo ves ta cirkus?
Prejela sem kar nekaj nagrad za svoje fotografije. Običajno jih imenujejo »fotografska tekmovanja«, vendar sovražim ta izraz. V umetnosti ne moreš tekmovati. To ni šport, ne moreš ga meriti. Obstajajo objektivna merila za ocenjevanje fotografije, vendar je to le del procesa. Umetnost je veliko več kot ostrina slike ali dobra kompozicija. Kdo smo mi, da sodimo, katero umetniško delo je najboljše od stotin dobrih fotografij? Pogosto sem del ocenjevalnega procesa in mi izraz »soditi« ni všeč. Raje temu rečem »izbiranje«.
Izbira je lahko zelo objektivna, vendar je vedno tudi subjektivna. Odvisna je od članov žirije. Vsaka oseba ima svoj pogled, odvisno je celo od razpoloženja, v katerem je ocenjevalec tisti dan. Tako pravim, da so fotografska tekmovanja kot igranje loterije. Potrebuješ dobro fotografijo, da lahko dobiš nagrado, vendar je to le boljša srečka za loterijo. Kakorkoli, prejemanje številnih nagrad je znak, da nekaj dobro počneš. Pomeni, da se tvoje fotografije na nek način izstopajo iz množice in to je priznanje, ki ga vsak fotograf z veseljem sprejme.
Vedno sem vesela, ko so moje fotografije izbrane med ozkim izborom najboljših, vendar se zelo dobo zavedam, da imajo številne druge fotografije enake ali celo boljše lastnosti od mojih. Ustvarjalnost je neskončna. Za vse je dovolj. Res ni potrebe po izrazu »fotografsko tekmovanje«. Gre le za izbire, ki jih naredimo. Seznam mojih najljubših fotografskih nagrad seveda obstaja, vendar jih ne bom omenjala tukaj. Obiščite mojo spletno stran, mojevesolje.si, in si oglejte moje fotogalerije ter seznam nagrad.
Zame je fotografija po vseh teh letih še vedno radost, sprostitev, ustvarjalnost in hobi. Tudi ko delam kot fotografinja na kakšnem projektu, tega ne imenujem delo. To je ustvarjalni izziv. Da, izziv je dobra beseda za to, ker nikoli ne veš, kaj priložnost prinese. Pri vsakem snemanju je toliko spremenljivk. Pogosto uporabljam izraz »igram se s fotografijo«. Morda zato, ker preprosto nočem, da postane dolgočasna obrt ali industrija. Potrebujem jo kot obliko strasti in sprostitve.
Ko potujem, najprej uživam v raziskovanju, pustolovščini, duhu kraja, energiji, svetlobi, vzdušju. Nato svojo izkušnjo preoblikujem v fotografije. Vse je zelo spontano. V fotografije vložim sebe in spontanost je moje srednje ime.
Težko je reči, kam me bo moja fotografija pripeljala v prihodnosti. Nisem človek načrtov. Pustim, da življenje teče. Odprem vrata, pokukam noter in če je zanimivo, vstopim. V zadnjih letih sem sprejela številne velike izzive – nisem bila prepričana, da sem jim dorasla, vendar so bile dobre priložnosti za učenje novih stvari in osebno rast. Nikoli si ne bi mislila, da bom vozila kombi poln fotografov po Evropi. Predavam in učim fotografijo. Pišem strokovne vsebine o fotografiji. Skozi različne kanale pomagam fotografom pri pridobivanju novega znanja in izkušenj. In vsake toliko časa me čaka nov izziv.
Bistvo je, da se ne bojiš novih izzivov. Ne boj se neuspeha. Ker vsake toliko časa res ne uspe. Samo reči moraš da, stopiti iz svojega varnega okvira, sprejeti izziv, z njim rasti in se učiti. To te lahko naredi le močnejšo in boljšo osebo.
