Today we’d like to introduce you to Jana Redweik.
Jana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In the fall of 2008, I picked up my granddad’s old analog camera. He passed away a few years earlier and using a camera that once belonged to him felt very precious to me. Before, I was shooting only digital (except for my analog point and shoot that I owned when I was a kid).
As of this time, I was still going to high school, I started to take my analog camera with me on school trips and the first real shots I took were on a two week trip to Ireland.
I had no idea what I was doing, I just did. Soon after, I eventually took the camera with me everywhere I was going, experimented with self-portraits but always came back to what I started with, landscapes.
I had always been a daydreaming person and my biggest dream was always to go and live in California, at least for a few months. In 2015 I set foot onto American ground for the first time in my life for my semester at SDSU in San Diego and from that day on I would constantly dream of coming back.
I had already fallen in love with photography a long time ago and always tried to incorporate my photographs in my projects for my graphic design major. During my time in San Diego, I took two photography classes that made me fall in love with photography even deeper.
One was a photo book making class with Kim Stringfellow and a photography history class with Arthur Ollman, founding director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. Going to college in the U.S. is completely different from going to college in Germany and I never felt so utterly inspired by my teachers as I did during my time at SDSU.
After my return to my home country, I felt quite lost. I missed, of course, the weather but also the creativity that you could find in every corner, in every part of the city, among all the people, no matter their social or educational background. Creativity and arts and crafts felt way more valued in California than they felt back home. Somehow everyone was creating, exploring new things and experimenting. The possibilities felt endless.
Being so shaped by my time in San Diego and yearning to be able to go back every day, I decided to dedicate my final Bachelor project for college to the feeling of “Fernweh.” Fernweh is a German expression that doesn’t exist in any other language and describes the feeling of yearning for the far away, a kind of wanderlust but in a more melancholic and nostalgic way. Basically, contrary to homesickness.
I started investigating the feeling that had been my faithful companion for the last months. I started reading books and researching online for studies and sources and found that this feeling is not yet as explored as I expected to be. After my research, I headed back to California and stayed for almost three months. I spend my time traveling around California, taking pictures everywhere I went, trying to capture the way I feel for this place.
Finally, this concluded in me making three cohesive books that deal with the longing for the far away, the places you make your home on your journeys and the time after, back home, reliving those moments and homes in the back of your mind.
Since then, I have been trying to come back at least once a year to not miss the magnificent landscapes too much.
The variety of nature and the vastness of the land is something that strikes me again and again whenever I come back. Being able to capture them on film is a beautiful gift to me and getting back the scans and negatives from my lab after another trip to the west coast always feels like Christmas.
Now, my goal is to maybe get some people in front of my lens and get out of my comfort zone shooting just landscapes. It’s a big challenge for me but I’m willing to try. So, if anyone is reading this and wants to be photographed by me, hit me up!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the beginning, I always struggled with the technical part of the camera. I was afraid to do something wrong, to expose the film wrong, etc.
At a certain point, I just asked myself what could possibly happen and if after all, it is even important for me and my photography that everything is perfectly exposed and sharp, well, I figured it’s not, so I just went for it. A good picture doesn’t mean it has to be “perfect.” A good picture has to do something with your mind and soul, this isn’t necessarily done with the right exposure.
I love the unexpected outcomes if you do not take your settings too serious all the time. Just click the shutter.
Still, especially with social platforms like Instagram, it is hard to not compare yourself with others. I try to only look at accounts that inspire me, not the ones that make me feel like I’m not good enough. I think the self-doubt is really hard to overcome but I decided to keep challenging myself and try to be true to myself in the way I take pictures.
As mentioned earlier, something I would like to get more into is portrait photography. I’m no one who just approaches someone and asks if they would like to stand in front of my camera, so it’s still a long journey.
I recently shot my first wedding with my boyfriend, who is also a passionate film photographer. We were quite afraid that the bride and groom would not be happy with the pictures afterwards.
Especially when shooting film, you cannot really check in between if your pictures turned out well.
Finally, we were really happy with the outcome and we would be happy to shoot weddings again soon!
So, my advice is, don’t take it too seriously, try different things, find your own way and don’t rush.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into your business story. Tell us more about the business.
What I am known for is my landscape and nature photography. I love to travel, go hiking and find beauty in the little things in nature. What probably sets me apart is that I solely shoot analog. Mostly 35mm and sometimes also medium format.
I think what us film shooters like especially about film photography is the magic of shooting slow and the surprise moment you have if you see your pictures only after days, weeks or even months after taking the picture.
As I am a very nostalgic person, I love the vintage look that shooting film gives to everything that is in front of your lens.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.janaredweik.com
- Email: janaredweik@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jennared_
Image Credit:
Jana Redweik
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