Photograpger Irina Jomir (Norway) Can you tell us a little about you? I’m a fine art and portrait photographer based in Oslo, Norway. I grew up in Moldova, in a family where every one was expressing him/herself in some form of art or sports professionally. Naturally I took same path. At age of nine I started studying at a local school of arts and since I’m driven to creativity as a way of living. How and when did you get into photography? Photography as a chosen medium of self expression came to me about nine years ago. At that time I was doing some hobby retouching, but it wasn’t enough anymore to be working on someone else’s images. So I got myself my first camera, Fuji X100 and I fell in love with it. Its retro look and manual dials already made me feel like a photographer and I wouldn’t go anywhere without it. I’d spend any free minute photographing anything around. People and architecture were the most interesting subjects. I’d often hide behind trees to photograph a perfect moment of strangers on the streets or through a windows of a cafe. Catching emotions that were perhaps meant to be hidden or expressed in a moment of loneliness was what I was after. To me those were truly the only truthful moments of somebody’s emotional state. Then soon I got pregnant and I decided to take newborn pictures of my baby. I was preparing for it whole pregnancy, watching educational videos, finding props. When he was born I did the shoot and three months later I was commissioned to do a baby photo session, thats when I realised I can do what I love and earn on it too. Starting a business of newborn photography then was just a way to get into the industry professionally. Nowadays I’m doing more portraits and fine art. What does photography mean to you? Photography to me is indeed a medium through which I develop my personal growth. I use it as a way to express my emotional views on the world, people and talk about my personal experiences. It’s my way of communication, my voice. I can’t separate myself from it anymore.
Model - Marie Njie / MUAH - Natalia Tristan - 18 -