apf3lstrudel's photostream

Bill Brandt. One of the persons that had an unchangeable influence in my life.
I never knew the man, never met him, he even didn’t live in the same time span as me.
But either way, our roads crossed about two years ago, when I saw his image on a big, worn-out book at our city library.
Bill Brandt was one of the most prominent photographers of the 20th century. He took black and white photography, and he immediately got my attention.
I opened the musty piece of literature and found a whole new world opening for me.
I fell in love with his pearly white beaches, with the naked women, who looked like goddesses, beautiful and serene.

From then on, I became pretty obsessed with photography. When I really want something, I’m very passionate and persuasive, and so began a long time of driving my mother crazy. Eventually, I got my first camera. The feeling I had when I first pressed the ‘click’-button, was in an unexplainable way intense, and I just knew I was hooked.
My first photographs weren’t all that, I was confining myself to taking pictures of my mother and sister.
But after a while of looking at photography of the greatest masters, I began to see the beauty in little, ordinary things, like the shadow of a hat stand on the wall or a lonely street musician. I felt blessed with this gift, because before, I didn’t pay attention to those things, and therefore, it felt like I didn’t live life at the fullest.

Photography became like a drug to me, like cigarettes for the chain smoker, like chocolate for the emotional eater.
When I feel down or overwhelmed with joy, I take pictures. It’s an action I have to perform almost every day.
photography has become such a big part of who I am, look at my pictures, and you will know me as if I was your best friend.

Friends, family, strangers, places, I want to put everything on film. But the photographs I cherish the most are from the people I truly love.
I see them everyday, but I know someday, they can all be gone. With my photographs, I’ll always have them with me, no matter what.
I’ll always remember the story behind a certain picture, where and with whom I was.
A photograph of a friend, a relative or even a lover is a subtle combination between the two things I’m most passionate about.
And I’ve got a strong hunch they will remain that way, forever.