Today we’d like to introduce you to Marina Makropoulos.
Hi Marina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I fell in love with California as a photojournalism student at the Brooks Institute of Photography in the early 2000s.
I lived along the coast and traveled through the state finding what it was I loved about the sunshine. My photography traveled me through the Midwest and both coasts. I set anchor in Chicago where I learned that my passion is to create portraiture and travel photography.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Photography has always had me. You sort of know it’s meant to be yours when you walk into spaces and places feeling the light and power of the moment. Isolating a photograph with the look in your eye is intoxicating. I didn’t feel this emotion because I made a picture. But because I could show people what I saw in them, the space and place of the moment. Much of my photography was created in the presence of others. I liked documenting a shared experience. The image was a token left behind.
I struggled after a decade of working in the print and photography industry as I was swept up by real life. The weight of raising a family while paying for my education has been my biggest struggle. I didn’t want the beauty I saw colored by the need for financial success. I failed miserably at the business structure of my early creative endeavors and I forgot to believe in myself when creativity was compensated in monetary value. I took a very long pause in sharing my work. I photographed quietly.
My family grew and I found beauty in all the moments we experienced. Most recently I started to join in on the online adventure of posting and sharing work. My interest in my travels and photography has revived my need for creative expansion. I have acquired an ultra mini studio space where I offer portraiture to those who want to share in the experience. The studio is within walking distance from my home in Chicago and will offer me the opportunity for artistic expression.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in photographic portraiture. I am known for creating mini vignettes of people’s lives through my photojournalistic style. I am most proud of the body of work I have created as a mom of three wonderful, amazing, wild, and beautiful daughters.
Maybe one of my virtues is that I value the space I am in. I also have no trouble pulling out the mood and emotion of a person through conversation. As I believe giving someone your time and attention is the rarest form of generosity.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
San Diego must be the ruby supreme. The weather performs at the best I’ve ever seen. Beautiful, all year round. My only dislike would be that I don’t live in San Diego.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.foxandwilds.com
- Instagram: @fox_and_wilds
Image Credits
Marina Makropoulos Fox & Wilds
