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Laura Zalenga Photography
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Author Archives: LauraZ

About self-portraits

Posted in personal |

November 6, 2015

| by LauraZ | 8 Comments

‘Aren’t you that girl that takes all those selfies?’

So many people still seem to think a self-portrait and a selfie are the same thing.
A photo taken within a second, with your phone held in your stretched out arm, fake smile, no story, just showing the world your face.
Oh don’t get me wrong – selfies are fine. I like to send them to my family or post one on Instagram if I am bored or at a nice place.

But selfies are not self-portraits. It’s like comparing fastfood to a five-course menu that took you four hours to prepare. I don’t say one of the two is better per se, but one of the two involves a deeper thought, a lot of work and often a piece of your heart.

A self-portrait almost always contains a concept, a story or an emotion the artist whats to share. It took more than a few seconds to create it. It is a piece of the artist, a page of their diary. Most often the viewer will not be able to read the handwriting easily but you will understand the mood by the few words you can recognize.

When I was younger I considered those saying, people who take self-portraits are narcissistic, to be right.
Today I know that taking a self-portrait does not mean that you love yourself or that you think you look beautiful. It’s simply a way to express yourself or an idea/concept/emotion. Just as it is a way to explore and understand yourself.

When I take a self-portrait I work with myself just as I do with any other model I take photos of. Either the person plays a role to bring an idea/concept/story to life or the photo is about themselves, about who they really are.

I do believe that taking self-portraits is a way to understand yourself and also to accept who you are. In my eyes it’s a form of a therapy. Spending time with yourself is incredibly important. There is nothing wrong about it at all.

In fact I for myself think that the first step to be a good person is to be in peace with yourself and to know who you are.

Self-portraits helped me – and still do help me – to find myself and to express what I can’t say in any other way. Self-portraits changed me into a better person and saved my life. But that’s another story.

So in short: don’t be afraid to take self-portraits. Explore, express, find and even cure yourself.

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About the kindness of strangers

Posted in personal |

November 6, 2015

| by LauraZ | 2 Comments

We meet them every day, they are part of our life but most of us probably don’t think about them a lot.

Strangers -The people around us who we don’t know anything about. Humans of who we have no idea how they live their life or what they dream about or what they fear.

Is it only me or do we all most often forget that they dream and fear too?

Maybe it’s because I’m German (and we are know to rather not interact with others if we don’t have to) but it makes me so happy every time I see strangers starting to chat or to help each other.
Like the young man sitting next to me on the train. He helped five people to put their luggage onto the shelfs high above them. Or those people in the queue at the supermarket who give a stranger a dollar if they don’t have enough money with them.

Small acts of kindness. Tiny positiv interactions that remind us that we are all humans.
I love that between strangers it is clear that you don’t want something in return for your kindness – other than a thank you and a smile maybe. No second thought. It’s pure because most often you won’t see that person again. It’s some seconds of positiv interaction and then you part again.

That’s what I also love about my ‘1001 Strangers‘ project. I get to spend a few minutes with a person who’s name I will never know. Most often we just talk for a few seconds, take the photos and then both leave with a smile.

It’s these tiny moments on the train when a child says something funny and everyone smiles and somehow you feel connected. The moment when you laugh because you walk up on someone and you don’t manage to pass each other because both try the same direction at the same time. And isn’t it the best to make someone else smile? Giving a smile or a helping hand or a unexpected dollar to someone gives so much back to yourself.

We all fail and we all have bad days. But in the end we all try to make the best of this life. Let’s all try to be that kind stranger more often and make others and our selfs more happy.

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Hello blogging life

Posted in News, personal |

April 19, 2015

| by LauraZ | 3 Comments

Yes, I was thinking about starting a blog ages ago and talking about starting one since months but time flies by so fast.
Well at least here I am now writing the first words of what will hopefully be the beginning of regular posts with insights, outtakes, series, thoughts, tips and trick, updates, travel-diaries and much more.

Feel free to comment with what YOU would love to see and read about on here.

Hopefully some of you are just as excited as I am 🙂

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Recent Posts

  • About self-portraits November 6, 2015
  • About the kindness of strangers November 6, 2015
  • Hello blogging life April 19, 2015

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© Laura Zalenga 2015

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