Monique Schneider

@leandiias

Creative and local traveler based in Switzerland

I live in Davos, Switzerland. A wonderful place with fantastic nature and mountains directly in front of my house, so it’s no surprise that I love to be outside. I wanted to share the wonderful things I see out there and started, just as a test, with Instagram. I took my old camera, small and partly broken but still working, and began to shoot. I don’t have a theoretical background in photography or previous knowledge and experience transmitted to me by family; I started with photography randomly, and it turned out to become a real passion. When I was young, my teachers already told me I should go to art school because of my creativity.

"If I could choose again, I would definitely go, but we always need to get older to realize things about ourselves and to learn how to listen to our true desires and passions."
"Nowadays, photography is essential for me as it helps me to balance my life."

I have a child with special needs, which is quite demanding and days are sometimes very long. Photography helps me to focus on my other self; going outside, being creative… Since I started with photography I have a different perspective of life. It broke the wall I had in front of me and helped me to widen my view, focussing on everything around me other than just the things directly in front of me and applying it to each aspect of life. I don’t have to travel around the world to be happy and take a lovely picture. I just take my jacket and my dog and walk out the door. Most of my pictures in my profile are from the area of Davos Klosters. Every day I see this beautiful little things that make me speechless.

"For me, photography is not just taking a picture. It’s paying attention to the little things in life and expressing my creativity, developing it day by day."

I work with Lightroom since a long time and I am happy using it. Often I use the app on my phone, because it’s more flexible; I can easily put it away and continue the next minute I have time, wherever I am. I learn a lot while using it, trying out new things I have seen somewhere else with my own photographs. In the end I wanna have a picture that I like, representing the moment as how I remember it, how it’s captured in my mind. I edit according to how I feel, and I think that my pictures have something emotional. This creative part takes a while, sometimes one hour, sometimes a full day. But at the end I have a photo to which I applied my own style.

"I really enjoy applying a minimalistic style; especially with the snow, playing with contrasts can be enough to give it a special touch."

The most important is that I am happy with the result. When I share a photo on Instagram I am very excited and curious about the feelings my photo provokes when my people look at it. They say: ”Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and I think that’s true. Everyone has their own opinion and this is the most interesting; reading the comments and opinions of the audience. 

It’s quite fascinating to see how my creativity has changed over the last years. It makes me smile when I see a picture from last year, being edited so differently from how I would edit it now. But I’m positive and optimistic, always looking forward. So when I look at these pictures I just realize that I have learned so much and that there are so many pictures left to take and to edit, applying my own ‘new’ style which is always evolving. My goal is that people see what’s behind the picture, feel the emotion, and for each individual that may be different. I just follow my heart, and don’t feel any pressure.

"All goes step by step, and perhaps in five years you can visit my first vernissage!"
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