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Once I was asked why and how it all started and then it occurred to me that what apparently must have had the greatest influence on my interest in photography was not the fact of purchasing my first camera, but is rooted in my childhood. It started with the discovery of old family albums, resulting from my secret trips to the other side of my family house. I used to sneak into my grandparents’ room …well to get some candies of course but besides that to look at the old photographs. My grandma had a few big albums with family photographs that she would constantly update with the new ones. She would design the layout and then she would slide the photograph into little corners. It always fit nicely and would complement the rest.

Learning the meaning of photography from my grandma’s albums is something that I always remember when I photograph or when I look at my son sorting through our albums. Most of all because they told me many stories about the family that I did not get a chance to meet or the times that I was not a part of, and because it would encourage me to ask questions and learn more by listening to my parents and grandparent’s stories.

My grandparent’s albums are to me like family chronicles, a piece of history, something better than any of the books that I have ever owned and the memory of that is one of the greatest memories I have.

Everyone has a story to tell that is based on the memories that we keep inside. Overtime the memories tend to get vague and after a while we realize that we only remember some parts of them.  The thought of that inspired me to pursue what I think I do the best, which is to document people’s lives and tell their unique stories in a creative way. The other deciding factor would be my enormous fascination with life and anything that plays a role in it; new relationships, new beginnings and experiences; big decisions and growing up; people that we meet along the way; happiness and sadness. All of that and more creates moments which then create our journey. The journey I choose for myself is to collect those moments and put those combinations of emotions and circumstances, into stories of people I photograph. Each element of the story is equally important and the true beauty lies within what is real and undisturbed by the superficial influences. Therefore I don’t see the real purpose in creating or adding to something that is already there in its most profound form, just waiting to be discovered.

And my camera …well if you think about it; it’s like a diary that I share. A message between who I photograph and me. So my hope is to always see things as they are. Never reject them and make them eternal with my photographs.

I don’t think that there is anything more fulfilling and rewarding to me than knowing that I did not miss the opportunity to create something meaningful.