Autobiography
My
appreciation of nature and therefore all living things was awakened at a very
early age due to being raised in a small village in Germany’s countryside.
The woods gave me a feeling of safety.
The meadows encouraged my dreams and defined my
creativity.
The silence of the forest filled me with peace and
sharpened my hearing.
The sky above gave me the unlimited space I needed to
think and breathe.
The sunlight, with its colour changes, held me captive
ever since I remember.
I found the simplicity of nature’s creations striking
and fascinating.
For my 10th birthday I received my first
camera, a Kodak Instamatic. It proved to be a great tool to capture on film the
way I saw the world and made those moments last.
I trained as a druggist after middle school education,
which deepened my knowledge of plants, herbs and products deriving from such.
After working as a laboratory technician several years
in the microbiology field I was able to afford a brand new Minolta mirror
reflex camera. It became my always-present travel mate.
In 1981 I immigrated to Canada and since then have
been living in Alberta, land of immense heaven.
Through my careers as mother, farmer and photographer
I got to know the province exceptionally well. Over the period of 26 years I
have accumulated an abundance of outdoor photographs, most of them sky-related,
the motive, that still holds my attention. Even for wedding, family re-union
pictures or portraits I prefer natural lighting. I take all shots as they
present themselves. No alterations with any technical devices have been
performed. All images reflect my hopeless addiction to nature’s simple beauty.
In 1998 my passion became my profession. A Hasselblad
medium format camera was added to my inventory – Simplicity Outdoor Photo
Design was created.
Lately the technical advances of digital photography
have improved tremendously. I am fascinated with the extended possibilities and
beeing able to produce fast results. However, I am still convinced that working
with negative film provides the better quality of photos.
Whatever equipment I am using - I love what I am
doing.
Conny Schuster