Ursula Mueller In The Spotlight
I was about 10 years old when I got my first automatic camera and started snapping on outings, holidays and at home. This didn't stop me from pestering my father to teach me the ropes of taking pictures with his SLR which he then handed down to me when I was 18. From there it was a journey from prints to slides and back to prints in black and white, learning how to develop photographs using a dark room. My favourite subjects have always been travel and landscape photography and, in terms of photographers, I particularly like the work of Ansel Adams, Fay Godwin, Eugene Atget and Robert Doisneau..
I still have my analogue camera but I now use small digital camera that I can effortlessly carry everywhere with me. Being largely self-taught, I felt kind of stuck and was in need of inspiration and learning. Two years ago I discovered Wifie and joining the group has been very inspiring as it has given me space to learn new things and exchange ideas within a very supportive and diverse group of women photographers. Going to exhibitions has been a great chance to get to know the works of other photographers and taking inspiration from them. I particularly enjoyed the Robert Bloomfield and the Amberside photography exhibition, which have led me to focus more on people in my photographs.
Workshops help with technical aspects and practical learning as do the recent “assignments” that have kept our group going since lockdown. There is a lot of freedom to experiment and I have become more confident in trying out different approaches in terms of perspective and point of view, aspect ratio or the use of movement, for example.:
I feel that with more awareness of photographic techniques and skills, I can gradually move away from the use of photography as a record, towards creating photographs which may tell a story or give a more layered and sometimes ambiguous view of the world. To achieve this I am working on a more discerning use of perspective and composition as well as making use of post production tools.
