Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Bumann
Hi Christina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been shooting photographs for as long as I can remember, though I didn’t always know what I was doing. I was always drawn to the thrill of photography, chasing light, movement, people, and things that are simple yet marvelously wonderful. Growing up, my Mom had an old Canon Rebel tucked away in the office storage cabinet, which I would pull out as a young child and would play around with the buttons, having no real clue what a camera even was. My Grandparents were both aquatic and wildlife photographers, and I would explore their bookselves full of photo books of wildlife and birds. I drew inspiration from their photographs, and would spend hours in the evening at home flipping through my parents wedding and travel photo albums. It was enthralling to see my parents traveling, skiing, backpacking, mountain biking, and surfing in their early 20s. Seeing them so young was a gift and a strange experience, as if I was meeting them for the first time through the image.
The summer I turned 13, was the summer I began to make photography my own. I went to my Grandpa and expressed my interest. He put a camera in my hands, taught me basic photography principles, and I began nearly obsessed with the capabilities of a camera and they places it would take me. I had a creative epiphany during that first summer as a teenager, realizing that photography was more than just taking photographs. It is a chase to see, hold, and experience the one thing that moves us the most — beauty — and it’s our pursuit to experience more of it.
My first primary subject when I started were hummingbirds (Example shot: Hummingbird), but shortly after I switched to shooting in macro. I set up a small studio in my utility shed in the backyard and roamed around my neighrhood, searching for flowers that would become my subjects. I analyzed the design of each floral, and through the process, discovered hidden qualities that sparked the desire within me to discover and compose more of what my eye found to be beautiful. (Example shot: B&W Flower)
However, it wasn’t long after my sophmore year, I needed a new subject. “What could compare to a flower”, I wondered. What subject could hold such unique design, beauty, wonder, and expression, yet also be one that I could move, position, and shoot outside the comforts of my home-made studio? It was at this time in my upper classmen years, that the vision (and later the passion) for creating artful portraiture of people, began.
One weekend at a volleyball tournament in Las Vegas, my friend and teammate, Brianna, was open to taking some portraits with me. We aimed for a pool-style, classy look. (Example shots: Vegas Portrait Orange Hue). I remember starting out feeling super ridgid, awkward, and unsure of how to describe the vision floating in my head to her. However, as we moved around the hotel grounds, slowly I found myself caring less, as if the camera wasn’t even in my hands, it was just an extension of my eye. Towards the end of the shoot, you couldn’t even tell we were having a photoshoot — we were just hanging out, laughing, and being normal teengage girls. The photos came out beautifully (to 15 year old me, at least). I took things further and experimented with other elements like water, to create a moody, almost story-like feel within the portrait. I collaborated with my artist friends and we’re afraid to explore and experiment (Example: Water on Face Portrait). From that point on, my creative heartbeat flourished and it was a chapter of discovery the power of creativity.
Things changed when I entered into college during covid. That heartbeat for photography, seemed to beat dimmer, and dimmer, until I could barely hear it anymore. I had put my camera’s away, and felt the call to taking life more “seriously”. I played 2 years of intercollegiate indoor and beach volleyball, and chose to study and work. I transferred to a University, and entered into the rhythem of eat-sleep-study-repeat sort of lifestyle. I remember this being the most confusing time in my life. Violently thrown into the world, expected to know exactly your path and instantly expected to do life well and consisntely, in order to earn respect. And respect I did try to earn! I considered myself a hard worker in my college years, and developed strong habits. I worked harder and did more of the seemingly “right things to do”. On the outside, I earned respect, but on the inside, I was still confused. Still unsure of who I truly was and what my heart really wanted. I was still living a life that left me no peace, no satisfaction, and the beauty my heart burned for in my youth, seemed to be the ever-so-often golden hour at the beach, only lasting 15 minutes until the alarms of responsability rang in my head once again.
In the summer of 2023, my Junior year of college, I was invited to go on this leadership intensive and surf retreat Punta Abreojos, Baja Mexico. The surf break was located 15 hours south of the border, and we stayed at this fisherman’s hacienda for a week where we worked in groups, surfed, and bonded together in community. The shocking part was that I was asked to be the photographer on the trip for the Christian Surfers Doner’s Magazine. I was hesitant, merely afraid that the photos wouldn’t make the cut for magazine quality. Nonetheless, I agreed, and stuffed my camera in my bag. It was on this trip, that my life radically shifted, and I had an awakening that lead my heart back to home, passion, and fullness.
On the trip just after dinner, I went up to the rooftop of the hacienda. I laid flat on my back, staring at the Milky Way galaxy. The stars were like a blanket of sparkles, twinkling back at me. I began to open the conversation up to God, realizing that He had given me a gift — the gift of the present. I tuned into the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, the laugher of my friends on the floor below me, and even my own breathe. My thoughts began to drift, and I asked God what might be in store for me once I got home. In that moment, photography invaded my mind, and the dreams I had let die had felt for the first time, possible. A strong confirmation that photography was truly a passion, felt as powerful as if God Himself spoke to me directly.
I cried. I felt free and unrestrained. It was like discoverying something I once knew. I realized the thing I was looking for the most — was within me the entire time. The passion I laid down at the trailhead of college, I would pick back up again, and would trust God’s guidance through the journey I began on that night.
Ever since that trip, I ventured into becoming a freelance portrait photographer based in San Diego. I was absolutely blessed throughout these last 2-3 years, shooting gigs and working with people I would have never guessed or predicted myself to work with. I shot a handful of weddings and various portait sessions, shot a songcover, became a creative director for a team of filmakers (Abiding Practice), and hosted a 10-week study for creatives to learn how to best integrate their creative talents with their faith in Jesus.
All this to say, God guided me, provided for me, and inspired my eyes. My portfolio over the last year has grown larger than I could have ever invisioned or predicted. It’s a gift to grow, but the greatest gift of all are the people that I got to work with, and who supported me through every season and moment of doubt. It is also a gift to admit that I don’t consider myself to have made it. There is still much to refine in my portfolio and business, but I couldn’t be more stoked to press into the calling set before me. Photography to me now, is an instrument that allows me to reveal back to people the beauty found in themselves, and the love that surrounds them.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Self-Doubt and Self-Obsession.
2 forces that keep me from my best. From the beginning to the present, I have struggled to balance both of these forces of resistence. I wanted to give a little work on each, and provide some insight on these 2 to hopefully help other artists.
Self-Doubt.
Self-doubt is a force every artist will face when they commit themselves to their art. As a form of resistence, it has the intention of sabotaging any amount of creative potential within us. Resistance, for me, often shows up as viewing myself as lesser than the artist I truly am. In the world of creative entrepreneurship, of course we feel competition from our fellow creatives, which can often become discouraging. I feel the most self-doubtful when I compare my work to that of another. This kind of longful gaze, reinforces the narrative that I am not good enough, and no matter how much effort I put into the work, it won’t be enough to satisfy. I don’t think that any work itself will be a smooth road. Not in the slightest.
We need to accept that there is something vitally specific within each of us. Whatever that thing is, it is our mission to discover it, steward it, and return to it daily. There is only one person who can carry that purpose into reality — and that person is you.
In his book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield writes “Self doubt could be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing and desire desire to do it.” The first time I read this quote, I felt released from the fear of failure (the consequential end-result of self-doubt). When we ask ourselves the question, “Am I really an artist?”, the chances are, you are, Pressfield concludes. I felt scared to death in the beginning, unsure of how this thing worked. What if I don’t get clients? What if I don’t make enough money? What if I fail? Such questions have the intention to paralyze the potential of any work. But Pressfield’s words are true — self-doubt truly is an indicator. The more I turned away from this form of resistence, the more capable I felt to create without the need to worry about the future or grasp the approval from others. It is not easy, but it is vital to break away from the need for approval. Art is an expression of our unique perspective and experiences, and to bright light to the story we have to tell. We weren’t designed to create in the same way as others, God is far too creative to let that happen.
This quote, hung on a poster outside the Karlskirche Church in Vienna that read, “Culture is a highway, art is a forest path”. Let us choose the forest path, and avoid the destructive lanes of cultural trends and the busyness of our day. We need to slow down the pace in our work and enjoy taking the scenic route.
Self-Obsession.
On the other spectrum of resistence is self-obsession or pride. This form of resistence leads you onto the path of deception — thinking of yourself as more than what you actually are. It is unhealthy and even destructive for an artist in her mind to see herself more than how other’s see her, and as a result, it slowly push other’s out, rather than drawing them into the work. An artist should be inviting, for this what our viewer’s feel. The self-obsorbed artist is less likely to collaborate with others, or trust someone else’s creative perspective. In the end they limit their potential, closing themselves from what could be, and isolate themselves. In dealing with my own pride a bit, I have learned that true creativity in collaboration with others is like finding the key to a door you could never open alone. You are creating art that otherwise wouldn’t exist. The best part, is that it feels good to be open, inviting, and encouraging to other creatives when they have a different vision. Letting go of my own control, I have found is a vital aspect to creating photographs that people appreciate in their hearts.
Along this bumpy road, and yes there are many bumps in my road I have had to hurdle over, the key to finding freedom from the temptation to self-doubt or self-promote/obsess, is to maintain a posture of childlikeness. A child is carefree. They are curious by nature, and as a result experimental & explorative. They won’t think twice to do something — they just do it because it’s where their little hearts lead them. Countless times when I feel creatively STUCK, it’s probably because I was trying to force something to come out of me. But, in the creative process there needs to be a moment when you let go entirely. When you release the grip on the space you’ve made, the photoshoot you organized, or the blank page you’ve provided yourself with, the expectations lessen, and you invite truest self to come and shine. Personally, when I let go and let in, I find myself activating my inner child, and man does she get excited to be apart!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am known as a Freelance California + Destination Wedding and Portrait photographer based in the Northern San Diego area. I specialize in a documentary approach to portraits, aiming to preserve the imagery’s authentic look and feel. I also have an array of film cameras, and I love to practice the art of shooting on film and experiment with different film stocks and lighting. The film creates a timeless, artful, and nostalgic feel to the imagery that is truly wedded to my style.
I also have gotten to work with many wonderful and talented artists in my freelance work, and am a team member for this Christian media company called, Abiding Practice, serving as their creative director and photographer.
Finally, I love to facilitate spaces for other creatives to learn and grow. One course I recently hosted was a 10-week study diving into the topics of art & faith in Jesus through an organization called Parallel Society.
I am most proud of the fact that I am following my passion and using my gift and skills to serve others.
What were you like growing up?
“I’m going to make a garden” — said 12 year old me, as I hoed the weeds in my backyard, with a vision to curate foliage according to my taste in whatever I through was beautiful. It became a succulent garden, and I was proud to call it mine.
This picture sums up what I was like growing up. As an only-child I was quite self-reliant and independent, having no problem doing my own thing, even if I was alone. I was truly shy around kids my age, and I always seemed to socialize better with kids older than me. My Mom describes me as the well-behaved kid who did her own thing, and developed self-sufficiency at an early age. I just thought I was quiet. Often at school I would think there was something wrong with me because I never felt like I fit in. I was tall too, the tallest in my class by 5th grade, which took me a while to get over.
Personality-wise, I was a “doesn’t take no for an answer” kind of kid, self-willed, and dedicated to whatever thing I was interested in at the time. I was always driven, dedicated and motivated to what I was pursuing at the time.
My earliest interest that I invested significant amount of time into was photography of course, making me visually dominant from the start. I further developed the skill to play the piano, and played Bohemian Rhapsody with my friends non-stop in high school, a fond memory I cherish. Volleyball, photography, and surfing were the primary interests and passions that have kept with me through these near 2ish decades of being alive.
In college, I played 2 years of volleyball and then transferred to study visual arts and business at UCSD. I wrote a lot in college, and loved diving into history and enjoyed writing long papers and exploring museums. I found business to be the tools I needed in order to apply all of the things I was learning in the humanities, so I took many business classes on the side. Recreationally, I got heavily into cycling and running, still something I love to do today, and I still play lots of beach volleyball and even began to coach high school girls on the side.
Today, I still love to run, cycle, play volleyball, ski, and surf. I hope to go on a big surf trip this year, possibly New Zealand.
But beyond the things I do, I aim to bring something beautiful into the world and participate with God’s work, Who is making all things new.
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Christina Bumann
