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Carmen Huter
@carmenhuter
Landscape photographer based in Austria
Introducing Carmen Huter
Her move from Austria to New Zealand opened her eyes and liberated her after many years in a turbulent home. It taught her to listen to her inner desires and to be truly receptive to everyone and everything surrounding her, which offered her endless new perspectives on life. Suddenly Carmen saw the world ‘in real life’ rather than in documentaries. That also meant she witnessed the severe impact of humans on nature. After a few years she committed herself to photography and her motto “create more than you consume” – as a constant reminder to take action, build and create. A reminder to live consciously. Having a motto and goals is important for Carmen; running your own business means being in the state of ‘work in progress’ ceaselessly but knowing how she sees herself and her business in the future helps her to move through the forever changing industry. “I do believe that an inherent sense of purpose and self-love is crucial to succeeding as an entrepreneur”, Carmen says.
Staying close to herself is as important for her business as well as for engaging with her community and creating art. As for her art, Carmen has always loved color. As a kid she used to organize her coloured pencils in rainbow colours and after spending lots of time near the ocean and in colder areas, blue is the color she loves to incorporate in her edits as it brings her a sense of peace, balancing it out with warmer tones. In the interview she delves a little deeper into her editing of underwater and astrophotography.
One important advice Carmen gives regarding editing and creating in a broader sense is to consider your intention. What should your art do in this world? That is also one of the things that she tries to highlight in her workshops. Of course she teaches the ins and outs of photography and the business too, but she focuses on people to experience mother nature, a sense of community and to listen to their inner desires to create: “It should be a fulfilling experience they can draw from for years to come”, she stated.
We asked Carmen 10 personalized questions; keep reading and let yourself be inspired!
Interview
You are an Austrian content creator, got to New Zealand at the age of 18 to study English, and eventually settled there, not knowing you’d get into photography four years later. Now, another three years later, you are a full-time photographer with the motto “create more than you consume”. What got you into photography and how did that motto arise?
What got me into photography was my passion for adventure. Before I went to New Zealand, I had barely seen an inch of the world. Even though I was obsessed with travel documentaries, it simply didn’t seem possible to go and see the world with my own eyes. Moving to the opposite side of the world opened me up to endless possibilities. Throughout my many backpacking trips, I discovered first hand how human impact is quickly killing our natural environment. To me, creating more than I consume is a constant reminder to create action, art, passion – whatever it might be, instead of merely consuming it. In a sense, it’s an innate, intrinsic kind of motivation to live consciously.
You do many other things in the world of content creation, such as writing, consulting, and speaking. How have you built your business in the past few years and how does doing all these different things make a togetherness for you?
I take three steps forward, a couple back and then I keep going. It’s a constant work in progress. It’s exciting, terrifying, and – ultimately, it feels natural to me. Having a business that stands on more than one leg is important to me (I’m a business major at last). It’s also important to know I will one day be able to support a family with what I do. I’m not one to make 10-year plans, but I do consider where I’d like to see myself in the future and this helps shape my business as I move through a forever changing industry and world.
What has been an important moment in getting ahead and succeeding with your business? That moment that you thought, Okay this is going to work out! And related to that, what mindset/attitude or most significant actions you feel have led you to where you are today?
I knew that it was going to work out when I started going to bed with a sense of peace rather than urgency on my mind. 😉 I do believe that an inherent sense of purpose and self-love is crucial to succeeding as an entrepreneur. You keep going when others start to give up. There is endless talent out there, endless creativity, endless opportunity; but once you focus on what you can bring to the table as opposed to those around you and accept the humility that comes with the fact that we will always be a student of our own craft, you will be able to connect the dots. Long story short, it’s a lot of internal work coupled with insane hours photographing, traveling, and staring at my computer – all in all far less glamorous or easy-going than one could imagine.
Community, network, is essential in the photography world and also on Instagram, and we can see that you put attention and time in that. What are the main strategies you use to build and maintain your community?
Understand the essence of communication. What does it mean to effectively communicate? It’s important to value the feedback loop. When we talk and ask questions, we shouldn’t ignore the answers.
In one of your sections on your website, you wrote “the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera”. What is your vision of/approach to photography and how do you think we can see that back in your work?
I certainly feel that we see a lot more with our internal eyes so to say than we do with our eyes or the lens of a camera. A piece of art is there to emote, it should make you feel something – as should the places you explore. I try to capture this with my photography.
Looking at your Instagram feed, we can see that you often use blue tones. How did you develop your editing style? What is it that draws you to blue tones and what is most important for you when editing?
The blue tones started to sneak themselves up to me rather organically. I guess I spent a lot of time in the ocean and then later on around wintery/snowy areas before lockdown. I also very much like the idea of combining very cool with warm notes in my edits. And then last, but most certainly not least, I adore colour. I colour code my apps and my closet because it simply gives me joy. As a child, I used to spend hours organising my coloured pencils in rainbow colours. To me, there is something so peaceful and grounding to scroll through a variety of blue tones.
In terms of my editing process, I thought I’d share a couple of before and afters with you.
It’s important to me to balance out the blues with some warmer tones too. Balance, in general, should be a key theme when editing. These are two extreme examples, as both underwater and astrophotography require a lot heavier edits than a simple daytime or even sunset shot. It’s important to show all the details captured without overwhelming the viewer. I work a lot on calibration and HSL sliders. I like to keep my tone curves similar in all my edits and I often start with my own presets and go from there.
Your photos show that you have been to incredibly beautiful places all over the world, have seen unbelievable natural phenomenons and geological structures, and have done things that most people haven’t. That sounds amazing, though what I loved is this sentence I read in one of your captions: “Become your freedom before you even seek it on the outside.” How did you do that personally? And to what extent have travel and photography contributed to that?
My move to New Zealand liberated me after many years in a turbulent home. Once there, travel began to open me in ways I never thought possible. It allowed me to speak out loud my deepest desires (to create) and act upon them. It showed me just how connected we all are. It also taught me to listen. To listen to not only those voices inside me, but also to those around me. This offered perspective and endless learnings.
Becoming one’s freedom before one even seeks it on the outside is a powerful statement to me. It understands that no matter how much we galavant across the world, or how much pleasure or experience we seek in others, peace within us is more important than it all. It all starts and ends with self-love.
Related to the previous question, what has been the most remarkable travel experience so far? What made it so special?
I could never pick just one as each and every one has taught and given me so much. One that comes to the top of my mind is a trip through Eastern Africa in a beaten-up Landrover Defender. My then-partner and I drove through Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. We spent time with mountain gorillas, just about dodged shady border crossings, learned from a charity that deals with the massive HIV crisis in Uganda, ran from an alpha chimpanzee, and cried happy tears in front of thousands of wildebeest crossing literal borders in quest of survival. I also had malaria, by the way, so it truly was a remarkable experience in every way possible.
Nowadays we see so many young talented artists pursuing a career as a full-time travel/landscape photographer. What four pieces of advice would you give them?
Practice more, ask more questions, humble yourself. That is the only way to hone your craft.
Don’t lose yourself in the comparison trap. Celebrate the success of others instead. The universe will have your back if you stay at it.
Consider your intention. What should your art do in this world?
Build a sustainable business. Not just in terms of being eco-minded, but also in terms of paying your due tax, having more than one source of income, and allowing you time to still give time to your friends and family.
You also organize workshops in Iceland and the Alps. What do you focus on in your workshops and what do you think are the essentials people can take away from these learning experiences?
The reviews of those sometimes make me tear up, they are so heartfelt and exactly why I do it. I want people to experience Mother Nature, a sense of community, and start to feel that fire within themselves again. That fire to create no matter their circumstances. That fire to go enjoy the sunrise and take it all in – not just with their cameras. I of course also very thoroughly teach the ins and out of photography, and entrepreneurship within my industry. But it is much more than that. It should be a fulfilling experience they can draw from for years to come.
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