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Robin Schneider
@robin.schnd
Photographer based in France
The South of France and occasionally the Costa Brava in Spain were the regions I spent most of my childhood. When I turned 18, thanks to small summer jobs, I managed to gather enough money to pick my own destinations and travel by myself. New York City was my dream destination at that time, so for my first trip in 2011, it was clear where I would go.
I took a bunch of photos, which, if I am being honest, seem terrible when looking at them now. Though, unaware of that back then, I just kept shooting happily with whatever type of camera I had. Thanks to University I was able to spend some time abroad and that increased my curiosity to discover other cultures and to always keep memories from these places and experiences.
With the rise of Instagram, I began following more and more photographers and travel bloggers. Naturally, I also started watching Youtube tutorials on the basic aspects of photography, gear reviews, etc… While my interest in photography grew slowly that way, I believe that the start of what is now my biggest passion happened back in 2016. I went on a road-trip in central Europe with my girlfriend and decided to carefully pay attention to my photos and how I took them. Shortly after this trip I landed my current job, saved enough money to acquire some entry level gear and started training my eye to look for compositions while going on local adventures.
Nowadays, photography is still just a passion, but also a big motivation throughout my daily life which is mostly filled with a 9 to 5 job at a Telecommunication company in Geneva. I spend most of my time working in front of a screen and thus thinking about my next outdoor adventure gets me excited no matter how the rest of my day goes. I plan my trips mostly based on what photography opportunities I can find on media such as Pinterest or Instagram, and then I just go.
My main focus is definitely on landscapes and more increasingly on wildlife, but I have also developed an interest in more intimate settings such as portraiture and street photography. Both of these styles are not my strongest suit as I don’t feel so comfortable practising them and the occasions don’t present themselves as much as I’d like. Therefore, my close friends and family are my subjects most of the time, trying to stay discreet and get the most natural reactions from them during our social gatherings. I usually edit them in B&W because I find it more intemporal and, to be honest, also because I believe portraits are harder to edit, especially because of skin tones.
As for street photography, I believe timing is essential, even more so than in landscape photography, and I don’t have the eye or skills yet to create with what is given at the present moment. I did a street photography workshop once and it was truly rewarding to learn so much. Nevertheless, the act of photographing strangers can be stressful, you never know how they could react. So when I do end up spending time in a city with my camera, I mostly shoot with a telephoto lens or in “hidden places” to avoid being seen.
Whether landscape, portrait or street photography, visual creation is such a big part of my life that I could talk about it for hours, probably boring my friends to death about it. I find it so pleasing to make art from what a specific moment gives you, freeze it in time and edit it the way you want before showing an audience your perspective on a particular place or individuals.
"Besides, getting into photography gave me the best excuse to go out, exercise and discover the world all at the same time."
Cuba was my first trip that I did after teaching myself photography. I spent two weeks in fall 2017 travelling across the island; I had barely bought my first DSLR so this was the perfect time to test it out. I tried to apply all the basic rules I learned which led to big fails and epic wins. A little later, in 2018, Scotland and Iceland were my photography teachers.
In Scotland I spent one week driving up North. If anything, this trip taught me to pack light when camera gear is involved. I had way too much gear which I barely used and hiking with a backpack weighing several kilos under the rain or strong winds is very displeasing. Wanting to use a film camera and a polaroid in addition to my DSLR was just too much. To complement that lesson, Iceland taught me to enjoy the scenery in the first place, before taking out the camera. I was doing the exact opposite; as I arrived on Diamond Beach I only looked through my viewfinder and never enjoyed the actual place with my own eyes – which I regretted afterwards. From then on, I try to relax, gaze at the landscapes in front of me before taking my shots.
During summer 2014, I decided to go on a six-week road trip starting in the USA and ending with the last three weeks in Costa Rica where I spent my time volunteering for a sea turtle conservation program. I was doing my masters in France at the time and I was looking for a volunteering opportunity connected to wildlife.
After some research, I found a small association called La Tortuga Feliz based on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica, in a very remote location, with only a few locals, surrounded by the forest and the sea. I don’t truly know why I chose this species, but I wanted to work on a project truly representative of the country.
"I found it very interesting as their goal was to help grow the sea turtle population and through the help of volunteers, inspire the poachers and convert them into guides for their team."
Before this project, I had only travelled in a certain comfort, mostly visiting cities in Europe, staying in hotels or hostels and only for short periods of time. Once I arrived in Costa Rica I had to take a local bus to some small town on the Caribbean coast of the country, where I was going to be picked up by my guide to go to the village in which I was going to stay for three weeks. I was really stressed out as my Spanish was a bit rusty and I could not see any other tourists on that bus. In addition, there were no signs at the stations the bus was stopping so I had no idea when to get out. Luckily, one woman helped me out and I got out at the right stop. The uncertainty and stress I had felt was doubled when I had arrived and settled myself in a small cabin by the beach with five other volunteers – with no electricity and bats flying in and out of our dormitory.
It was a rather uncomfortable start, characterized by stepping far out of my comfort zone. I was shy, a bit lost, but luckily the staff was really kind and explained everything about life there. After a few days I got used to the routine of working sometimes from midnight to 4 am, sleeping during the day, and socialising with the people around. The following weeks, I mostly did group tours on a specific part of the beach for four hours at night to check if any turtle was coming to lay its eggs. Then the goal was to recover the eggs, carry them to safety in a new nest we would dig and monitor them until the hatching. This experience allowed me to see adult turtles half of my size, as well as hundreds of babies hatching and racing towards the sea. The rest of my days would mostly consist of reading and walks around our cabin where I saw lots of other species, such as howling monkeys, sloths, snakes or even poisonous frogs.
"In the end, the strange visitors and the lack of electricity were no longer troubling me, I was living the life, had adapted my habits and found joy in what first seemed to be discomfort."
Spending three weeks in the wilderness, with like-minded people, without our phones, taking care of sea turtles, was incredibly liberating. Just being out, assisting a good cause, seeing these wonderful creatures, and chilling by the beach with no external distractions… I would recommend it to anyone wishing to challenge themselves and wanting to go on a personal journey while doing some good.
"Those three weeks volunteering showed me that I could adapt to situations which I had never thought of in the past."
I’ve always lived in a certain comfort, having access to services and media easily. Though when in Costa Rica I was confronted with the opposite and I managed to deal with it. This trip gave me more confidence, skills, resilience, flexibility, self reliance… I now know I can handle any complicated or uncomfortable situation and adapt to make the most of it. Being able to stretch to higher limits is hugely valuable in life.
My life has been pretty good in general and when doing my solo trip in the USA/Costa Rica I was faced with challenges that taught me how to deal with issues you generally don’t encounter every day growing up in France, in the western world. My parents have always taught me the value of money but when I went in my holidays, I think that the excitement took over reason and I spent way too much money in the first half of my trip on random things and by the time I had to fly to Costa Rica and pay for the volunteering program, my withdrawal limit had been reached. So, I was in a country I didn’t know, without proper Spanish language skills, and with only a few dollars left despite still having expenses to pay. Everything eventually was solved through phone calls with the bank and my parents but it did teach me a good lesson: be careful with your savings and think everything through. Planning early is the best way to make sure everything goes smoothly, no matter if it’s a holiday or an investment.
"Traveling helped me be more mature; it gave me a push in the right direction."
I feel that just being on your own, even if it is for your holidays, presents you to moments of self-growth. Nothing ever goes according to plan and I think that these potential problems you can encounter bring you closer to independence, even though, in my case, I have a safe haven to fall back on. Also, on a lighter note, I would say that with the several years of travelling I had the chance to live, I can now say that no matter how excited you are about your final destination, the journey can be just as exhilarating.
"Throughout the years, along those journeys, I have taken hundreds if not thousands of photos at different locations in the world and each moment I went out with my camera brought some amazing shots. My favorite photo though was taken close to home."
It is a picture of a sunset and moonrise above the clouds last November, during the second lockdown in France. I took other pictures that had a big impact on my current style and passion but this one in particular came to my mind because of the conditions I had on that evening and the events of the past year which prevented me from going out as much as I would have liked. On that day, the weather was terrible, lots of dark clouds, rain etc. Although I live at the very foot of a beautiful chain of mountains called Jura, it was hard to motivate myself to go out but once I did and reached the top, it brought me so much joy.
It is only a 30-minute drive from home and then a 40-minute hike walking on ski slopes not yet opened to the very top. While climbing, we transcended the clouds and were then surrounded only by some woodlands and on the other side the French Alps, including the Mont Blanc.
So sometimes the journey is clearly as (or even more) thrilling as the destination, and other times you have to challenge yourself and reach the destination to realize the journey was worth it, to see the value of the maybe uncomfortable journey.
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