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Kristijan Maleš
@kristijan_males
Photographer based in Germany
Life is made of decisions you make. Success is made of tough decisions you make. One of the toughest decisions of my life was leaving my country Croatia, my family, my girlfriend, and my friends in 2015 and moving to Germany. Leaving the blue Adriatic sea for… Well, the Alps.
The hard political and financial situation in Croatia was the reason to take this step. I had a normal job and was earning good money by Croatian standards, but I wanted to see what more was possible, try more, be better paid, and have a “normal” life, without fear of losing my job. I saw in Germany the opportunity to accomplish this, even though I didn’t speak any German, and decided to take the leap.
"After 7 years, I can say that this big step has been the right decision."
"Every beginning is hard and so was mine. But I have always believed that with hard work I can reach my goals."
I was learning German at home every day, watching German TV with subtitles and reading books and magazines only in German. While not being able to speak the language and relate to others has been difficult and frustrating, the hardest thing for me was that I was alone. My family and friends were in Croatia, I knew only a few people from work. I am a social human being, I need to go somewhere after work, to a bar and have a drink or two, for example. We are doing this in Croatia every day, here in Germany maybe two times a month. Now everything is a little bit different. Some of my good friends are also here in Munich and we see each other regularly.
"My girlfriend is now my wife and she’s here with me; we are both healthy, we both have jobs and we are both speaking German."
In the past seven years, I made a lot of new friendships that helped me better understand German culture when it comes to their approach to work, free time, and the values behind socially common behavior. Now I know how Germany works and I actually like the (cultural) system. I also noticed that a lot of people like to do sports in their free time, go hiking and be in nature – and I adapted to this too.
I had decided to take my first hike. It was from the small town Kreuth am Tegernsee, all the way to the peak of Wallberg. After these two hours, I was more tired than I’d ever felt in my life. Nonetheless, I fell in love. That was it! I fell in love with mountains, alpine lakes, and incredible views from the peaks. I fell in love with the time spent enjoying nature and discovering new places. And I needed a camera to capture all that. As I had only my smartphone with me and standing there, the idea of buying a camera came up.
A few days later, my Nikon D5500 was delivered. I didn’t know how to use it, but I knew I had to learn and decided to shoot only in manual mode. One year after that, I was standing again on Wallberg and took a photo of the famous chapel at the peak. This photo was sold as a cover for the book Quercher und das Jammertal, through Shutterstock. I was really proud; that moment gave me the motivation to go further. A few weeks after that, my photo was published in a golf magazine. Why golf? Well, I was working in one golf club in Bavaria as a head waiter, I was taking photos in my free time and I knew the head manager of this golf club.
"He suggested using some photos of a golf club for a magazine and I accepted. They published them a few times in different editions."
In 2018, I left the golf club and I couldn’t find the motivation anymore to go out and take photos. I lost my passion somehow and I was photographing only occasionally. It was a very negligent period of my photography journey, mainly because of a high workload and little free time. After a hard-working day, I didn’t have the energy to go out and take some photos. Also, my wife came here and we were doing everything to make our life here in Germany better. Because of that, I was focused on other things more than on photography. Every progress had been on hold and if I ever took a moment for photography, I was never happy with my photos. This disappointment discouraged me even more.
"Then Covid-19 happened. We were all in lockdown, I was sitting at home, the restaurant where I’m working was closed and I had the strong urge to do something."
I opened Youtube and started to watch videos about landscape photography. A couple of days later, I bought a masterclass from one of the most famous French photographers – Serge Ramelli. I wanted to learn how to edit my photos, but not to copy his style. I wanted to find my unique style, to learn new techniques and tricks. Suddenly, my passion came back. I bought a new camera, a few new lenses and started to discover some new motives. I began to feel good about my photos.
When the first lockdown in Germany was over, I started shooting again regularly. I invested even more time in my editing skills and engaged with a lot of new people on Instagram. At the end of this chaotic 2020, I decided to take part in a global photography contest, the 35Awards. The result came in May 2021 – I was stoked and speechless.
"I was officially in the TOP 50 German Photographers!"
There are 88 million people in Germany, there were more than 123 thousand participants globally with over more than 440 thousand photos uploaded and I finished within the TOP 50 German Photographers. Shortly after that prize, I bought a new drone and the first shot with it finished on TV in one Bavarian show as a highlight of the day. I knew at that moment that my work was getting recognized and I wanted to continue to create content. I’m genuinely proud of these things because I know how much hard work, how many hours and how much money was invested in all my travels and photography gear. That moment boosted my motivation to learn more, to get better, and to create more.
During the second lockdown, I started to learn more about social networks, especially Instagram. The first thing I noticed is that communication and engagement with others is the most important thing. I made some new friendships over Instagram, with many of them I was already shooting, with some of them I became really good friends. One of the most important things is to find a shooting partner who shares your ideas, who knows what you expect from your photos, and who knows how to push you to be even better in your work. Also, it’s really important to accept negative critics.
"There were times where I was criticized, but I took time to think about the feedback and to find a way to get better."
One of these IG followers is my very good friend now. We have already gone on several trips; two of them are worth mentioning. The first one was a winter day in the Croatian mountains. We woke up at 4 am, drove two hours to the mountains, standing all day outside in -14 degrees, shooting foggy vibes, with snow-covered mountains and pine trees. The second one was our last road trip this autumn, to the Dolomites. One of the best vacations ever. Taking photos for eight days, almost 12 hours a day, and driving from one to another spot, from sunny days at Lake Braies to snow on Passo Gardena and rain in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Enjoying all these iconic spots like Tre Cime or Alpe di Siusi was really priceless. But, it’s not just about visiting all these beautiful places. Meeting new artists and making new friendships on these trips is an even better part of it. Showing your work to them and watching their works, exchanging your social profiles, and sharing the ideas and photos you’ve made is making the trips like this unforgettable and highly valuable.
After this autumn trip, I made another decision. And as it looks, it could be a tough one too. I spoke to my boss and told him I’d like to work only part-time starting January 1st, 2022. I registered a business here in Germany and started to do some product photos to build a portfolio. The first shooting was for the restaurant where I’m working and there are already some other projects I’m working on.
"However, I’m not in a hurry. I’ll do these things my way, on my pace, like almost everything I did in life."
After six years of taking photos, I can surely say that photography plays a big role in my life. I look for new ideas every day, I follow new trends while finding out how to add my unique style to it. I’m really glad to hear how people are reacting to these new photos and edits, how we support each other in the community, and sharing our works with others. Photographers are all so different, and I love that. I’m a landscape photographer, but I like to see some great minimalistic or wildlife shots. I’m not good at street photography, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to see these types of photos. I appreciate other photographers and their work, especially if I can see how hard they are working to reach their goals and I will always support them in their journey. I believe that together is the only way to grow. And I’m very thankful that my biggest support comes from my wife, my family, and my friends. Without them, everything would be much harder.
All this began with the toughest decision I made. And I still firmly believe that success is a result of tough decisions. I’m a believer and I think that my photography career is still in its early phase. Because of that, I will continue to work hard to reach my goals. And I will continue to encourage others to do the same.
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