Maria Presser: Photography is my way of expressing myself and connecting with the world
Maria Presser, a children's photographer from Argentina and a member of the World Professional Photographers Organization, knows what it is to communicate with small capricious clients and how to establish contact with them for a high-quality picture. In her interview, Maria shared her experience of changing profession (from orthodontist to photographer), approach to children photography and the main secrets of a successful photograph.
- Tell us please a bit about yourself.
- Hi, My name is Maria Presser, I'm a photographer and mentor from Buenos Aires Argentina. I love to teach how I see and feel my photography.
My redhair daughters are my major inspiration as well as my husband, my greatest fan and support, I couldn't achieve anything without them.
I think photography is the art of observation. It is not what you look at that matters, it is what you see. And I always see magic around childhood.
I have had the honor of being invited as a speaker to several conferences in Latin America and I have developed a workshop program that helps photographers conquer their dreams in Latin America, United States and Spain.
I love to travel around the world searching for the magical location, spending time with other photographers and telling stories with my photos.
- Why did you choose to pursue a career as a photographer?
- I have been a professional orthodontist for 16 years. When my oldest daughter was born, I bought my first professional camera to record each of her moments and her growth. Right away I noticed that I not only wanted to document each moment but to take photos in a more artistic way. This year I decided to leave my professional career and fully dedicate myself to my true passion, which is taking photos and teaching photography.
- And what does photography mean to you?
Photography is my answer to the question what would you like to do for the rest of your life? It is my passion, my way of expressing myself and connecting with the world.
- How would you describe your approach to children photography? What is your goal?
- I think that childhood is full of wonders and beauty, there is little in the world that is more magical than the mind of a child. My goal as a photographer is to capture all the innocence, sweetness and joy they bring to the world and do it in the most artistic way. With my photos I want to create memories, moments that are frozen and treasured forever. Magical location and wonderful golden light is the key of my photography, I have been working as an outdoor children photographer for 4 years.
- What, in your opinion, is most important to consider while shooting children's portraits?
- The key in children’s photography is to connect with children, get up to them, look at their eyes and play with them. For a while again being the child I was before.
It is important to carry out a previous questionnaire on the interests and personality of the child. I will take pictures in order to know them better and connect with them more easily.
- How do you connect with difficult little clients?
- When I started with photography, I dedicated myself a lot to client sessions and always tried not only to make them protagonists but also to get closer to them through games without invading them.
Working with clients was exhausting for me and I limited my art to their wishes and tastes. I decided two years ago to dedicate myself to doing only personal projects and to have all the creative control of my photography.
- How would you describe your style of photography?
- My photographic style is based on portraying a timeless, nostalgic, romantic childhood in contact with nature and animals.
My photos show the magic that exists in childhood, where every simple thing is extraordinary and imagination and games are protagonists.
- Do you prefer shooting outdoors or indoors? And what additional light do
you use?
- I mainly shoot outdoors using natural light. My favorite time of day to do my sessions is sunset.
During this world quarantine I began to take studio portraits using flash.
- How long have you been participating in 35AWARDS?
- I have being participating in 35 awards since 2018. I really love the platform.
- What do you expect to get from participating in WPPO?
- I expect forming a community, sharing experiences that tend to last over time in friendships and alliances and help in spreding my art through the world.
