Andrea Peipe: Breathtaking Fine Art Photography

Andrea Peipe is a fine art photographer. She is 35 years old and lives in Munich, Germany, with her partner and two stepsons. She works there as a freelance fine art photographer because this is her passion and something that she really wants to do in her life. Andrea cannot remember not taking photos, even at an early age, but she started to get into photography and editing at the beginning of 2010. She studied to be a translator for English and Spanish and worked in that field for a few years but quit her job to pursue photography. Interviewing Andrea Peipe, who shared some interesting facts about her biography, was a pleasure for us. We wish you a pleasant reading of Andrea Peipe’s success story and a viewing of her fantastic fine art photography.

The First Steps in Photography

AP: Hi Andrea, Thank you so much for finding the time to share your success story. It is a great honor for us to interview you. Could you please tell us what got you started?

Andrea: After finishing school, I was torn between becoming a photographer or studying something that would earn me money. A job agency advised me to learn something “proper” because you have to be really good to make it as a photographer. So I studied to become a translator for English and Spanish and got my degree in 2003. However, I never gave up on photography and kept being very interested in it. I worked as a translator for a few years and then quit my job in 2010. I was tired of doing the same thing every day, not doing anything creative, and just generally felt that this was not how I wanted to live my life. I have taken more photos since the beginning of 2010 and went freelance in 2011. I have long been inspired by the wave of fantastic photos by a young generation of very talented photographers, and I greatly admire a lot of them. Some of them are good friends of mine, and I am still waiting to meet someday with some of them.

Education

AP: What a beautiful start. It’s great that you returned to taking photos in 2010. Could you please tell us about your education degree?

Andrea: I got my first camera very young and always took photos. However, they were nothing special, just things I wanted to take a picture of. I have had several cameras in my life and always wanted to get better, but I didn’t invest so much time into it until 2010 when I bought my first DSLR and then started my 365 projects. I saw great photos of other photographers younger than me who were creating, and I wanted to figure out how to achieve something equally good! Therefore, I experimented a lot with my camera, bought a book about my specific camera, tested all the functions, and gradually got to know Photoshop by watching lots of tutorials online and experimenting again. Of course, I also spoke to other photographers at meetups and watched them working, so I gradually became better and more confident in my photography. I never studied to be a photographer, and I believe if you really want to learn something, you can figure it out by experimenting and spending a lot of time doing it.

AP: Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed life experience. I am sure it will inspire many young photographers. What genre are your photos in?

Andrea: When I started taking photos at a young age, I only took snapshots of my family and things I liked looking at. Later, I concentrated on landscapes and flowers and gradually moved on to self-portraits. Shortly after beginning to take self-portraits, I started a 365 project – taking a self-portrait for 365 days. I didn’t want to take just snapshots or meaningless photos; I wanted them to be special so that I could be proud of them after the year. I went through with it and didn’t miss a day, not when I was sick, on vacation, or busy, which was sometimes really difficult. After taking photos of myself for a year, I got really tired of my face and only seeing myself in my pictures. So I moved on to taking pictures of friends and models I found on model websites, etc. What changed a lot in my photography was that I organized my first Flickr meetup and got to talk to and take photos of other young photographers who also had started with self-portraits and hence knew how to pose and what my vision was. Now, I still love to take pictures of other photographers but often use models or people I meet and ask if they would like to model for me. Portraits are my favorite genre, but not really the “normal” kind of portraits – although I sometimes enjoy that as well. I love creating a story with my images!

AP: How would you describe your works?

Andrea: I love creating magical photos that leave the viewer stunned for a few seconds and make them lose themselves in the photo. I think my photos are quite unique in their own way, but I know a few other photographers who create art that falls into the same category – fine art and storytelling. I like creating stories with my images and not just taking a photo of a pretty girl standing between flowers – although I sometimes enjoy that, too, for a quick shoot. I like to sketch before a shoot and know exactly what mood I want to go for with the photos to explain to my model what I am going for in the photo, what the background story is, and what I want her to do.

Equipment and Techniques

AP: You are a talented photographer, and your work exceptionally inspires us. What kind of equipment and techniques do you use to take such pictures?

Andrea: I am shooting with a Nikon D810. I have only had it for half a year and used a D7000 before, but the difference between a crop sensor and a full frame still blows my mind. The lens I use the most is my 50mm F/1.4, although I use the Brenizer method to expand my frame every now and then. When I still shot with my D7000, I always expanded my frame because I wanted the nice depth of field that you would otherwise only get with a more expensive camera or lens. After a photoshoot, I use Adobe Lightroom 5 to choose the best photos and sometimes to make basic light changes, and then the “real” editing happens in Photoshop CC. It can take anything from 20 minutes to a couple of weeks, depending on how complicated and elaborate my concept is.

“My Secret Garden”

AP: Andrea, please tell us more about your latest project, “My Secret Garden. “What inspired you to start working on it?

Andrea: My mother had passed away a few months earlier, and I had felt uncreative and broken ever since. I couldn’t really find my way back into photography, yet I have always used photography as an almost therapeutic way to deal with things. I often turn emotions into photos or concepts for future photos, but I was too broken to do that. So, I thought of ways to get back into photography, and I knew I needed a long-term project that would keep me going even in rough times.

I generally find books and stories like Alice in Wonderland inspiring; anything that is not the usual contains things the world doesn’t have. Giant flowers, huge mushrooms, talking bunnies, the general size difference between Alice and the things around her… I love the ideas and find them very visually inspiring. I cannot say that my photos are inspired by a particular part of the Alice books or by any particular books at all, but they are inspired by the mood of many fairytale-like books and stories. I came up with a few ideas and sketches and just worked from there.

So far, there are a few sub-series already. The series “The Dreamers” consists of photos of people walking around or standing holding a balloon filled with water and a fish or sea creature. For me, the balloons represent their dreams, which they carry around. Then there is a series called “Little Red,” which is generally inspired by Little Red Riding Hood and contains – as you can guess – a lot of red. Dark Beauty Magazine recently published it.

Furthermore, there is a series called “Through the Eyes of Alice,” of which only a few photos have been published so far in Plenuline Magazine. Then, a few individual images like “The Autumn King” got quite a lot of attention. I am currently working on more photos for that series, and what is crucial to me about that is that the props are as real as they can be. Meaning that the clothes in the photos are either made by me or borrowed from young designers, that the giant flowers are really giant, that the balloon is filled with water, etc. If there is something that I can create and then take with me during the shoot, then I will try to do that.

The Formula for Success

AP: What is the formula for success in your activity?

Andrea: I think you generally need patience to succeed in anything in life. I don’t often participate in contests; however, recently, I did for the first time in a while. I took part in the Trierenberg Super Circuit, one of the world’s largest photo art competitions, and even won a Gold Medal of Excellence for my photo “The Fluorescent Light of Day”! I was beyond excited when I got that email!

I exhibit quite a lot, although still not as much as I want to. About a week ago, a very important art fair – the STROKE art fair in Munich – ended after 5 days, and it was wonderful to be there. Over 20,000 visitors came, and I had so many conversations, new contacts, and people buying my art. The general amount of exposure at exhibitions, particularly art fairs, is insane! Recently, I had another art fair, the ARTMUC, and I was excited to see new people looking at my art, having conversations, and making new contacts! You have to get yourself out there, show your art, live with the feedback – the good and the bad – and stand by your art. I believe that you will not be able to grow if you don’t do that.

AP: Who is one person you would like to see interviewed on AstrumPeople?

Andrea: Adi Dekel. She is a young photographer from Israel who is very inspiring and also a very sweet person. I love her photos so much and the way she uses the space she has.

AP: Thank you, Andrea. We will definitely contact her. Is there someone who supports you in your creativity?

Andrea: There are a lot of people who support me in my creativity. My rock is my wonderful partner, who gives me his honest (sometimes unwanted) opinion and pushes me forward. My family is generally very supportive and interested in my work; my dad and my sister always try to come to my exhibitions and are, I think, quite proud of me. And my partner’s family is also super supportive! Also, I have a few really good friends, some of whom are fellow photographers, who I can always turn to for advice on photography or life in general, who give me hugs or come to my exhibitions. Without my supporters, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Three Golden Tips in Photography

AP: Tell us three lessons you believe are really important for every photographer.

Andrea: Experiment, network, and never give up!

You may be bored with what you are creating or too comfortable with always shooting similar things, but to grow, you need to experiment. And if things don’t work out, that’s ok. Figure out what didn’t work out and how to change that and try again. Sometimes, it just isn’t the right time for you yet, and you need more experience in a certain field for an idea. Sometimes, ideas need to be put aside until a later point in time. Experimenting will also help you find your own style! Having your own style does not necessarily mean that you will always shoot the same things but that there is a certain something that connects the photos.

Networking is so important, in my opinion! Before I started befriending and meeting other photographers in 2012, I felt stuck for a while, mostly doing self-portraits. Meeting other photographers, seeing their work, and simply just talking about creating art and things like that created a spark in me and pushed me forward immensely! Whenever I meet up with other photographers, in particular, if that is for more than a day, I often create some of my best and favorite works. As a photographer, I often work alone (except for during a shoot, maybe), and coming together with other like-minded people is simply the best!

Last but not least, never give up! If you really want to do this, you have to keep going. It will take time – more for some, less for others – but things will get better and easier with time. Concepts that were impossible for you to put into practice will get possible, you will gain editing skills that you didn’t have before, and things will generally start to work out. But you have to keep going, do as much editing as you can in order to get better, and have as many photoshoots as possible so you get self-confidence in what you are doing and can achieve your ideas and concepts.

Andrea, it has been a great pleasure for us to have an interview with you. Thank you very much for sharing such an inspiring success story with us. We wish you continued inspiration, incredible accomplishments, and many more great ideas to come up with. To learn more about Andrea Peipe’s photography, visit her website, which features beautiful fine-art photographs.

Contact information:

• Andrea Peipe Photography
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