Location
:📍BERLIN
AUTUMN NEWS/LETTER
Finally, I had some time to sit down and share the latest news on projects I am working on and what is happening behind the scenes.
To say that I love Berlin would be an understatement; the past three months were busy, and we attended many exhibitions, events and workshops. Daniel and I also tried to spend as much time as possible exploring the city and the green spaces around Berlin, winter is slowly moving in, and our days here in Germany are colder and noticeably shorter.
I have much to write about and will spend the winter behind the writing desk in the studio. Winter will be more practice in slow living as we find balance in this incredible arty and vibey city, Berlin.
We love exploring the forests and lakes around Brandenburg and Berlin, and we spend a lot of time in nature; our Shinrin-yoku practice keeps us balanced. I am inspired to write and will share more stories and travel features in the coming colder months.
Whilst working on the new art photography print shop, I came to the realisation that I have an extensive body of work and archive I built up over 16 years, a lot of documentary and portrait work that has not been shared, work from trips in India, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and more. I am spending time brainstorming and applying my newfound information architecture and design knowledge to my work and will share more photographs from the archive once I have mapped out the visual journey of the projects.
Whilst I am pausing between the notes and brainstorming what to do with all the work, you can follow a new Instagram account I created for this visual retrospective.
The latest news on current projects and new visual work
: Studio Lizane Louw
I am busy editing and organising the selected work that will go into the online art photography gallery. Working through an archive that spans over 16 years is quite a challenge, but am enjoying the process, and so many new ideas and projects have transpired from this. I am finding myself in a creative flow state; I am so inspired.
Land of Fire and Ice, created in 2021, will go live in the coming weeks on my website. This project was a challenge, and the process of putting together a body of work like this takes time; I am happy that I gave myself the space to think about this work and to place the work in the context of the larger theme I am working within, the documentation of our photography expeditions to remote places and working on a curation called “Elements of Nature”.
The art photography gallery studiolizanelouw.com will launch soon. Keep your eyes on my social media pages. Behind the scenes, the new site is taking shape, everything is being set up, and we will be ready to go online soon.
NEW PROJECT
: Unnamed (for now)
I have been learning more about using text with images over the past month and started working on another creative project inspired by some brainstorming sessions in workshops with other photographers and writers. The idea is to develop this theme into an exhibition and a book. The project is developing slowly, and I will share more as I refine the idea and put this body of work together. I am inspired to also put my thoughts on paper and to offer word and image workshops in the new year. More about that soon.
You teach me to pause and live each moment. You activate all my senses with each of our interactions. I seek to be in harmony with the rhythm of the universe. I often stumble and fall. I have much to learn as a student of the tea leaf.
#chadao #thewayoftea #teastories #photographer #fineart #fineartphotography #textandimage
Fire and Ice: Elements of Nature
I am attending an image and text workshop by Shirley Read and Christina Dunhill. These weekly workshop sessions are running until the end of November. I am finally getting inspiration and guidance on how to put this series I am working on together. We have been experimenting with images and text and text in the exhibition space, and I am working on refining the text that will go with the body of work.
I am in a creative flow state and looking forward to my next photo expedition and to continue working on this project. I hope to get to Greenland, Svalbard, the Himalayas, India and beyond to continue my long-term work on the human impact on the environment. Documenting climate change and global warming is challenging; working on environmental issues is a lifelong commitment I am dedicating myself to. I have always been interested in nature and how nature works, and am now interested in the changing environment and our human relationship with nature.
New visual work to be published on my website soon
: Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland 2021.
We spend 18 days exploring Iceland on a Ring Road Road Trip. It was an epic adventure.
This collection will be a selection of images available as Giclée Fine Art Prints on Hahnemühle Fine Art Paper and prints on brushed aluminium. Land of Ice and Fire, Series I, coming soon.
Photography research
I am writing more about photography, doing more photography and multimedia research and also started studying UX Design this September.
I am officially working on a UX/UI design qualification. What is UX/ UI design, and why study it?
I was introduced to interactive and immersive storytelling in 2014 when I studied multimedia journalism at the Asian Centre for Journalism at Ateneo. Even in my master’s thesis in 2019, I explored visual communication and how visual messages are constructed and can impact how we receive information.
A visual message is a powerful communication tool; it can persuade, educate, entertain, and inform, whether the message is in texts, infographics, videos or photographs.
The work of interactive designers and visual journalists at the New York Times at the time inspired me. I wanted to learn how to tell stories in an immersive way. So, at the time, I did a diploma in graphic design to learn more about design.
As my passion for visual storytelling developed and the way we consume information changed, I was inspired to research and learn more. I am interested in creating interactive and immersive stories. Moving forward, I will be focused on creating meaningful visual experiences through which an audience can discover and consume stories and information on digital platforms. Finally, I will explore visual design a bit more.
I will continue my storytelling and photography adventures but will streamline my content to align with my ambitions for my multimedia studio. More on that soon!
To think about it, how can I not pursue design studies at this point in my life? I live in Berlin, a very arty and vibey city, in a country that gave us Bauhaus, the avant-garde movement that transformed modern art.
I am inspired. One day I hope to follow this path with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Communications, so this is the groundwork I am doing.
I am such a nerd! And my first love is photography!
If you have any questions? Get in touch!
Photographs and text by
Lizane Louw
As a travel & culture journalist, Lizane researches, writes and shares original travel and culture-related stories. Lizane produces high-quality content for various platforms, including print, online, social media, and video platforms. Lizane enjoys writing feature articles, sharing experiential stories, and creating photo essays of all the offbeat, remote and interesting destinations she visits.