If you find Niklas Söderlund’s gallery in social media, you will be captivated by his visual stories. His photos – as well as his own personal brand – are certainly distinctive. His unique style, among many other things, has allowed him to grow one of the most promising social media accounts within the photography sector. Although Niklas is relatively new to the game, thousands of photographers all around the world already find inspiration in his art. This is something to be really proud of.
However, as Niklas says, photography is just a hobby to him, because his real passion is tattooing. Actually, learning how to tattoo played an important role in his career as a social media influencer. This is because the methods that he has been using as a tattoo artist helped him to better understand photography. Today, combining both forms of expression is something that he really enjoys. And traveling is the key ingredient behind his creativity.
In order to understand who is Niklas as traveler and photographer we asked him 9 questions. The following was the outcome!
Welcome Niklas! First of all, can you please summarize for us your journey so far?
My relationship with photography has a substantial past. I started photography more than 10 years ago when things were quite different, visually speaking. Back then social media was not the powerful tool that it is today. Capturing a photo as well as getting back the final product took longer. You could say that I started photography in the original old school way.
Nevertheless, photography has been and still is like a hobby to me. It really interests me, yet, my number one occupation nowadays is tattooing. I really like to combine both ways of expression and I am in a comfortable as well as exciting moment in both disciplines.
I bought my first Nikon camera when I was 16 years old, if I remember correctly. Back then I used to shoot all types of things, from portraits to long exposure photos. While I was practicing the photographic methods, the creative flow captivated me. Pretty quickly the world got more interesting.
A couple of years later I started to do tattoos more often. I decided to start a career as a tattoo artist in 2012. This enabled me to make some money, which I often used to pay my travels. Between 2012 and 2016 I visited many fascinating regions such as Bali, California, and the Swiss Alps for instance. However, along these trips I wasn’t focusing on photography. If I wanted to capture a moment I used my personal phone, so as you can see, this part of my life is relatively short.
At that time, by the way, I became obsessed with camping! So, I spent quite some time outdoors together with my friends. Interestingly, my friends had one Instagram account where they posted photography closely related to nature, the outdoors and specially camping. I think that somehow my friends inspired me to create my own account as well. I decided to start documenting more seriously my adventures, I thought that it could be a good idea.
I still remember the exact moment I realized that I needed to buy a camera urgently. I went camping with my friends and one of them showed us his brand-new camera. I thought to myself: “Damn, I really need to buy a camera!” So we slept there, and the next day I ordered a Fujifilm camera 🙂
As soon as I got the camera I tried to learn everything I could about photography, both how the camera works and how to create a good visual story. Even though as a tattoo artist I have worked a lot already with essential elements of photography such as contrasts, compositions, or colors for instance, I really wanted to deeply understand photography and look at it from a different perspective.
In my opinion, knowing how to tattoo was valuable to grow as a photographer, and the other way around. The more creative you are and the more you learn from other ways of expression, the better the synergies will be.
Nowadays photography is the perfect excuse to travel and explore the world. When photography is involved, everything is more exciting. I really like to combine tattooing and photography while I travel.
So, these are my two main occupations today and they keep me certainly busy! Which is something that I really like by the way. I really enjoy challenges, and keeping an updated gallery as well as tattooing at the same time has been a great motivation to me. I like to give problems to myself and then try to solve them. Learning through challenges is a great way to keep the happiness rolling!
Such an interesting path, no doubts! So you are also a huge traveler, why is it traveling important to you?
Traveling allows me to find balance. Basically, to have a balanced life I need a daily routine, but I also need to keep my brain busy discovering and learning new things. Traveling, for instance, is perfect for that because I can visit another country and do what I like the most. In addition, at the same time I can discover new places or meet different people.
This is a good way as well to realize that what I have at home is valuable to me. When I get home after a long trip I feel great, relieved, and happier. If you stay at home all the time you just get bored easily, but when you are traveling you can better appreciate the tranquility and routine of home.
Camping became a huge part of your identity and has certainly shaped your life. Why is camping so special to you?
I have always been really close to nature. So for me camping is actually kind of normal, it is something familiar even though I don’t spend all the time outdoors.
Camping is the ideal excuse to have fun with my friends and to be surrounded by nature. Also, as I mentioned previously, experiencing different situations and environments through photography is one of my greatest passions. Camping is really helpful in this regard.
In addition, camping can be excellent when it comes to capture the perfect photo. This is because you can place yourself in that ideal spot and wait for the perfect conditions to take the photo.
Many people are afraid of camping, specially someone who has been born and raised in a big city. What would you recommend to all those readers who have never tried camping but would like to experience it at least once?
If you are completely unfamiliar with camping, try to experience it first with a couple of your friends. At the beginning it is very important to find a group of people you can share the experience with. Once you see how the experience really is, you can practice it knowing that it is not that risky or difficult.
Another option, of course, is to drive with your car to a place where you can park the vehicle. Then you have the safety of your car. Personally, I really like this option. I rather use the sleeping bag inside my car, it is more comfortable as well. Specially in Iceland since here it is not really fun to put out a tent. It is windy and rainy most of the time!
Among all the amazing photos you have captured so far, do you have a favorite one?
I really like one of the photos I took on my last trip to North America. We traveled by car from Los Angeles to Banff, Canada and back, so it was a really long and interesting trip actually.
By the time the trip was ending, we were already in Los Angeles. I had an idea in mind for a long time, I really wanted to drive a muscle car here and take that experience back home as well.
So I just went for it! Immortalizing the moment was also part of the experience, of course!
We rented a cool Dodge and we drove for a couple of hours around Los Angeles. I knew what I was looking for, but I didn’t know where I would find it. But, eventually, we came across a pretty distinctive road having a snake shape.
That was the ideal spot to capture the photo! I went up the hill and I asked my friend to drift along the road so I could capture the smoke and dust reflected by the sunset. It took us a couple of tries to get it right, but luckily, I got what I was looking for!
Your progression as a landscape photographer has been remarkable! Is there any advice you would give to young talent pursuing a career as a landscape photographer?
I do have some advice, especially for those photographers who started recently.
First, I think that it is really important to look at what other photographers are doing. It is important to train your eye and get to know what works and what does not work when it comes to presenting your visual story.
Try to answer the following questions while looking at the photos:
Where are they taking the photos?
What kind of light are they using to convey the story?
Under what weather conditions are they shooting the most?
What subjects are they including in their stories?
In the end you want to understand what makes their photos better or special from the rest. It is like finding the uniqueness that every photographer brings so you can eventually try to recreate the same visual story. You want to find the formula that they are using. Once you got that, you will be able to create your own style.
It is also important to realize that the more you work and suffer to get to the right location at the right time, the better the photo will usually come out. You cannot take extraordinary photos if you are not surrounded by extraordinary conditions.
In addition, I would say that having fun with photography is essential as well. Of course, you have to be motivated and serious if you want to reach goals. When you are ambitious, it is easy to be too hard on yourself.
For instance, when I don’t get a good photo after a long day trying my best, I can get quite frustrated. I am sure that this is the case with many other photographers, because in the end we all want to be and feel productive as well. So, you should remind yourself that you started taking photos because is fun, and it should remain fun.
What type of sceneries as well as weather conditions inspire you artistically?
In terms of landscapes, I really like dramatic sceneries. I guess that is why I like Iceland so much. Iceland has so many different types of landscapes, and all of them inspire you in a certain way. Here you have volcanoes, glaciers, impressive rivers, black sandy beaches, massive desserts, cliffs…You name it!
When it comes to weather conditions, I tend to like more the landscapes when they are foggy or cloudy. Having low clouds in your photos adds a sense of mystery to the visual story and I think that this makes the photo more appealing. It can be quite hard to get a landscape covered by fog because it is not common. But, once you find it, it is certainly worth it!
In addition, I really enjoy raw nature. Unspoiled landscapes are helpful to me when it comes to conveying specific emotions such as loneliness, for instance. As an artist, I like to inspire people to go outdoors and explore. Showcasing the wilderness, in my opinion, is a good way to get people’s attention.
What are the most valuable lessons you have learned traveling?
I have learned several lessons traveling around the world.
Firstly, I think that it is important to not stress yourself when finding a location to take a photo. It is useful to plan your trip and try your best. However, the journey and your feelings towards it are more important.
Secondly, remember to be patient. Once you have reached that location you were after, it is worth it to wait until the sunset or sunrise. And, if the conditions are not ideal, then you can still wait a little bit longer to see what happens. I can give you an example of why this is important in my opinion.
There was this time when I was traveling around Norway with some friends. One day we hiked a really impressive peak. We wanted to capture the sunset on the summit, however, the weather conditions were not the best. So, we decided to stay longer, perhaps we could see something special. At least that is what we thought.
We waited for four hours in the cold, hiding behind the rocks because we had nothing to cover ourselves with. After a while the sky suddenly exploded with impressive and wild colors. We saw the aurora and we were lucky enough to capture some nice photos! As you can imagine, our way back to the car was a happy moment as well.
Thirdly, if you are traveling abroad, it is really important to do your research first. However, you don’t have to stick 100% to the plan. As such, it is important to be flexible and sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Usually things take longer than you’d expect, and you may find cool places on the way. Expect the unexpected!
Finally, when it comes to travel, it is easier to reduce your costs rather than make lots of money. So, if you can get your transportation sponsored or get free accommodation in exchange for your work, you will be able to save more money and therefore prolong your trip.
Is there any artist who has inspired you?
Yeah, a lot of them actually! I can name at least three of them, although I find inspiration in many other things, such as movies or music for instance.
When I started with photography @benjaminhardman was a huge inspiration. I really like the way he is showing us Iceland. @alexstrohl always shares amazing photos, his work is really distinctive.
Finally, I would like to name @jasoncharleshill. He is also a huge inspiration to me. I really like his editing style as well as his selection of colors.
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