Hi there! If you’re up for a little trip to the past hearing all about how I started photography, grab yourself a drink and relax. And if you would like to read more about my recent and distant history, check this out. Now hear my story.
It was somewhere by the end of high school when I met someone and fell in love. He made me see the world from many different perspectives and influenced me a lot. My heart and my soul opened and I got to know the worlds I had inside but I wasn’t allowing them to show up. What a shift that was and such intense time for me. I got to know myself better and I woke up from a dream-like state and started exploring more of who I was. This was the time when I started reading about alternative subjects, started exercising, tried meditation and pilates, started cooking more for myself and exploring foods I didn’t eat before. My relationship with the kitchen became more intimate while I was discovering recipes and blogs. Most importantly, I started asking questions and seeking answers.
A Need To Create
Among others, I got a need to create and photography came naturally to me. My mum’s uncle was a priest and photography was his thing his whole life, and I was reintroduced to his work over and over again through family gatherings and photo albums. When I think about it now, he was the first who influenced me in this area. Years later he gifted me analog Mamiya which I adore, but never really used her much. Who would know, maybe she is waiting for her days to come.
It doesn’t matter how much we know and what level are we at. We are all traveling; we all learn.
Marina Ćosić
For the first time, I saw the world with a new pair of eyes and I wanted to record it. I wanted to capture the world as I see it and to express what I was feeling. As I remember, I didn’t see it like I see it now back then, I just wanted to do it and so I did. I was buying endless films, color
My First Camera
A few years later, I have bought my first DSLR. It was an Olympus camera which was my best buddy for the next six years or so. It had two kit lenses and we started getting along immediately. A few months before I purchased, I saw it in a photography magazine I was buying monthly at the time and I fell in love with it instantly. It was so pretty, I couldn’t believe it. And then, just a few months later I have received a tax refund and it
Exploring And Learning
And so it has begun. I discovered online art communities and joined some of them. Also, I started communicating with other photographers and just attracting more of similar content in my life. I can’t quite remember what was the very first job I got, but it did take me a while. Not because I wasn’t good enough, but because I didn’t believe in myself. And that is also a story for some future posts.
However, I met a guy, we went on a date and I ended up being in a relationship with a photo reporter. The next seven years are where things got serious. I was introduced to a whole new world, again, having endless talks, backups, explanations, lessons, and practice. Technical support was much needed around this time and I had it big time. Sometimes I wish I listened more carefully to all his explanations about mirrors and full frames. I was surrounded by many other photographers and absorbing it all. Throughout this time, I somehow started developing a personal style.
Growing With A Hobby
What comes next is years of exploring, experimenting, searching and finding. So many times I have been trying and failing, getting anxious and doubtful. And so many times I asked myself why do I even do it if I can’t achieve what others who I admired have. Furthermore, it took me so many years, like a lot, to finally become aware of how good I was at what I loved doing the most.
I also had some periods of not photographing at all. Like, I think I skipped the year 2013 because I don’t even have a folder from that time on my hard drive. It’s crazy. But I never gave up. It was what was driving me, it was what I would go back to every time I wanted to do something with my life. Every time I wanted to challenge myself, I’d take my camera. And it is still like that, it’s just that I have entered some other space now.
So, are you into photography or do you have any other creative outlets? Leave a comment and I’d be glad to chat with you. Any questions on this topic? Feel free to ask or you can check out my Portfolio to see how far I’ve moved from blurry tree branches.
Until next time. Thank you for reading.
Love,
Marina Ćosić
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