Forgotten land

mariaandjustin — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 12:00:31 GMT

I have always been a visual person, but it wasn’t until starting film school 3 years ago that I developed an interest in photography and started discovering the different ways light shapes our surroundings as well as how much it affects the way we interpret an image. Photography is hugely important to me because it allows me to completely immerse myself in the moment; when I’m looking through the viewfinder, I am not thinking about anything except how a place feels, trying to capture the moment as well as I possibly can.

I’m not necessarily the most technical person, but I'm constantly working hard, pushing myself to learn new things in order to produce better images and to portray the mood and feel of my environment in a more accurate manner. Winning this assignment would not only be invaluable because it would enable me to develop my technical skills in an intense time frame, but most importantly it would allow me to gain insight into the daily routines and workflow of an established professional photographer through assisting them on this journey - I believe that after this experience I would be better equipped when taking the step towards making photography my profession.

Air Guitar World Championships

mariaandjustin — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 12:29:18 GMT

I’m currently a film student in London, and through my school I have worked on several student productions. Over the course of my studies I’ve become more and more interested in directing and editing with a focus on documentaries.

I met in Justin Oulu during the Air Guitar World Championships in 2011, and we immediately hit it off. We’re both naturally very curious people with a strong desire to travel and to throw ourselves in new situations and environments. Most importantly, we enjoy getting to know new people and hearing their stories!

What makes us a good team is that despite both of us having the same fascination and curiosity towards life, we express it in two very different ways. Justin has the ability to make people feel at ease in a very short amount of time. Knowing that he brings out the best in people we want to interview allows me to focus on the side of the process that I love, which is observing the moment and capturing it through a lens. We both learned a lot about this type of storytelling whilst making this video, and the process strengthened our determination to develop our skills further as a team.

Finding out this contest existed has been exactly what we both have been looking for in terms of gaining some experience in a field of work we want to be a part of. It would be truly great to have professional mentoring along with a chance to take the first steps on the long road of working towards our dream careers.