‘Life is an art journey’ says local photographer
“As a photographer, I see myself as a voyager. Nature and people inspire me."
An old Zwarrie matriculant and nowadays Moot resident is making her mark as a young upcoming professional and fine arts photographer. Bernice Fisher (30) said she wrote her own motto in life: “nothing you desire is more valuable than wisdom”.
And it is mainly life that inspires her, however, not only life, but also works of other artists such as Ansel Adams and Helena Bonham Carter. “
“As a photographer I see myself as a voyager. Nature and people inspire me especially. I admire Ansel Adams’ work, an American photographer, whose photos depicting nature and culture inspire me a lot,” she said.
“British actress Helena Bonham Carter also inspires me. She said she thinks everything in life is art. ‘What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone and the way you talk’. I agree, basically everything one does in life is a form of art, living is a form of art.”
Fisher said she was 11-years-old when she got her first camera and since then never stopped taking photos.
“I take photos every day with my phone, film cameras and a digital camera, always on the lookout for something that catches the eye. “
As a kid I documented members of my family, our pets and our house surroundings with throw-away-cameras.” Fisher said when she was in grade 10 she knew one day she wanted to be a professional photographer.
“We had to do an assignment in Life Orientation of an inspiring person, and I chose Annie Leibovitz. “
After matric I studied photography as my main subject at Oakfield college and worked at Q-photo in Centurion.
“I worked alongside professional photographers, shadowing them, after I completed my studies. Slowly I started shooting on my own.”
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In 2017 Fisher ended up under the Top 10 in a Women’s Month competition of SunshineCo in Johannesburg, “being the youngest photographer at the time that participated”. The title of the competition was “Through My Eyes”.
“At the moment I work extra hard to pay off my Canon 6D, and shoot big events and weddings to earn my living. I also do commercial photography and have done work for companies such as Danone, Garnier Nutrisse, Fidelity Security Group and Cotton On. I also shoot large birthday events, portraits, sport events, local South African bands as well as photograph art imagery.”
Fisher debuted last Saturday with her photography exhibition themed “We Are Passengers”. The exhibition can be viewed at Trixie’s Café in Colbyn until 27 March. She chose the theme because life is a journey all people partake in and all people subsequently travel through life towards their unique destiny. It is this journey she wished to record and express.
“I don’t have a specific favourite photo, but Land Of The Rising Sun is special to me. I took the photo on the 31 December last year, in the early hours of the morning. It was when both the sun and the moon were in the sky during the astronomical twilight and wolf moon which took place.”
“I like circles,” she added.
“I took the photo without my camera’s aperture. The works on show were printed on Felix Schoeller True Fibre matt fine art paper. I used black synthetic frames with a 20mm matt-board keeping the focus on the photograph itself.”
Fisher said one of her fellow artist friends, Henja Schaap, especially designed and made her the dress she wore on the day of her exhibition’s opening, which was very special to her.
“He also prints some of my photos onto fabric and design and make fabulous clothes with it.”
She said her days are busy, she exercises when she gets up. She really loves her dog, Elvis, a Jack Russel, and enjoys spending time with him.
She loves the sun, Africa, horses, butterflies, and fish. The only thing she dislikes is “arrogant people”.
“I try to involve as many people as possible in my life by inviting them into my life. That way I can also get a glimpse of their lives. A lot of my work flow from these connections that I make.”
Fisher gave a few tips “photographers might want to know to help them out on the photography journey”:
– Photograph what you think is significant or matters.
– At the beginning of your career, start shooting on auto first. Learn to observe light and composition and forget about the technical aspect of photography for a while.
– Shoot in various situations where light varies. For example, shoot situations in bright sunlight and then in darker light.
– Adjust the focus ring on the lens until the image appears sharp in your viewfinder.
– Photography is a way of expressing yourself and the world around you, so use every opportunity.
– Human vision is attracted to the following: intense colours, shape, repetition and angles. Make your viewer look twice because your shots are interesting.
– To ensure that photography communicates correctly, learn about working with point of view proximity, perspective, colour casts and breaking guidelines.
– Working with low and high angles. Shooting from low angle will portray strength whereas high angles will express weakness.
– Remember to focus when shooting. If you have a DSLR, change up your focusing points if shooting in manual mode.
– Take photos as often as you can, even with your cellphone camera.
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