The world of art is very extensive, today we will focus on photography and its nuances. Currently, the world of photography is accessible to almost anyone, since most of us have a smartphone or a cell phone with a camera.
This does not mean that we are all photographers or that we have any idea of what a good photo requires, others have an innate sense or talent and intuit what a good photo looks like.
However, people who dedicate themselves professionally to this field of art, not only have this intuition, but they have prepared themselves to achieve so many beautiful images that they give to the world.
For me, all photographic work is part of art, because of the beauty of the images, but it must be recognized that photography is divided into several fields according to the intention of the photograph. That is why many photographers specialize in one of these.
Types of photography
Among all the ranges of this beautiful world, we find the artistic photography that is merely related to art, specifically with painting, and its intention is the same as that of one: simply to be harmonious and serve to the contemplation and therefore to the decoration.
We also find the category of advertising photography, the intention of this spectrum of photography is very tangible: to present products in a visual way, often in a subtle and refined way to cause us an effect of apprehension to the product and thus achieve many sales.
We could think that fashion is in the previous aspect, but it is not, fashion photography is a different and very broad field where it includes scenery, hairstyle, makeup …. in order to create unique photos, photos of the fashion moment.
Then we can identify documentary photography, whose objective is, as its name suggests, to document life, situations, conditions of everything that makes up our world (nature, human life, wildlife …).
Another type is portrait photography. Here we seek to capture the features of people. We cannot leave aside journalistic photography, whose purpose is to capture history, to record events.
Aerial photography allows us to know our world as a whole because it shows us the perspective always from the heights. Currently, many of these photographs are taken with drones. We also find underwater photography, which allows us to know the aquatic world at different depths. It is one of my favorites.
Night photography allows us to know the sunrises and sunsets of many beautiful places. Giving an impression of a romantic atmosphere that attracts most of us. Another way to get to know beautiful places is through landscape photography, this tries to highlight equally all the components of the landscape. Simply beautiful.
Astronomical photography is dedicated to showing us space, obviously, very sophisticated equipment is used and the photographer remains on earth. This is closely related to scientific photography, but it differs in that photography focuses on immortalizing experiments and advances in science.
Photomacrography is the one that is responsible for presenting the world from very close, showing us very detailed but partial images, but always leaving always see what is reflected in the image.
I must say that this information is shared in a very general way and that in addition to this we must recognize that within each field or area of photography there are even more variants.
Charo Amador
We will focus on the work of one of the most respected members of our team. To be honest she was encouraged to join after this interview. But her work outside and before the magazine is what interests us.
Rosario Ortega Amador is a fearless, valuable, persevering, and above all talented woman. But after many years of living in Spain, after leaving formalities aside, she began to present herself as Charo and in honor of her mother she has left her mother’s surname, this is how we can recognize her.
Charo is a Mexican photographer who after having lived in Madrid has moved for love to a small city in Germany: Augsburg where she works as a freelance photographer.
The challenges of being a photographer in Germany
The first thing that our dear Charo Amador has encountered is the difference between living in a big city like Madrid and living in a city like Augsburg.
Although it seems to be a big city for the natives of Germany, for us Mexicans it is a small city, where we do not find job opportunities so easily, for different reasons. But be careful, it is not impossible.
The second challenge that Charo has to face is the language. As we have already discussed in other articles, the German language is always a big issue, which for many foreigners can become a determining factor in their personal and professional life.
What Charo tells us is that it is difficult not to be able to move in your language.
We commented on the difficulties that we foreigners go through in Germany, which is that not only do you have to adapt to a new city, but everything is different, you know beforehand that you have to learn the language.
Things do not stop there, you also have to get used to the climate, the food, recreate a social life and learn how to handle the whole working world, which is different for each career.
So the issue of being a freelancer in Germany has also been another great challenge because you have to know how to fill out all the documents for the famous and dreaded “Finanzamt” that now knowing it is not so scary.
Being a freelancer in Mexico or in Madrid has been easier for Charo because things are more open. In Germany, you feel that restriction, which in some cases even becomes a personal limit.
All this is what our charismatic Charo has had to face, but she doesn’t give up. Because staying at home is boring.
Latin Market
One of the advantages Charo finds is that in Germany the Latin market is very large. She sees this from two perspectives, the first is that you obviously get clients and the other is that it becomes a vice. You stop making an effort to integrate.
Charo confesses that she took off the blindfold because she believed that people did not want to integrate, it was something she criticized until she was in her current situation where she knows that integrating fully into the German world is not so quick and easy.
The groups are already established and not so open. She makes the comparison with her experience in Spain where the Spanish social groups are also already established but they integrate you.
This is one of the reasons why Spanish speakers have to stick together.
Before Spain
Charo’s training took place long before Spain, she studied journalism, was trained in photography workshops, studied for a while in Fine Arts in Veracruz, and later in a school to become a storyteller, aimed at making films, so she joined a group where they made the narration of a story, documented: they created the documentary and presented it at festivals. Charo is grateful that she has had two very good teachers in this area.
Charo’s life has always been accompanied by a camera, she remembers that since she was 17 years old she has always had a camera in her hand. It is because of this and because of her training that since she was very young she has successfully developed in the world of photography.
In her city, she had many exhibitions and was always very active and active. This helped her to get to where she is now.
Spain
In this stage of the life of our interviewee, she was reached by social activism, for her, it was something natural because her family has always been activists.
For her, in Spain, she was able to nourish herself with all the social movements in Mexico as well as in Spain. This is how she continued to work in the world of documentaries.
The size of the projects is not relevant for our dear Charo Amador. She gives us the example of one of her projects which were about the perception of women’s bodies by women themselves.
Reinvention in Germany
Documentary of families is now Charo’s main theme. But she is not going to leave social projects aside. That’s why she was delighted with a recent project.
The Milk League has entrusted the talented Charo with photography. This gave her the opportunity to mix her current line of work with social activism. Creating a campaign for them gave her the possibility to make visible something as beautiful and natural as breastfeeding.
Personally, she is still looking for freedom, that’s why she is currently studying German, is in the process of getting her driver’s license, and is still looking for social projects to contribute her vision through the camera.
Charo’s position on work is clear. She loves it and will continue to do so. Social work fascinates her but she will never forget that all professional work needs to be remunerated and we totally agree with her.
That is how I met Charo Amador, a charming woman, a woman with a present and future full of success. With whom you can have pleasant conversations and a lot of projects at the door.
Concluding
To place value in people’s work is something essential. But if you have the opportunity to meet an entrepreneur, a migrant artist you will value his effort twice as much, sometimes we do not know all the effort it has taken him to get there or to continue on that path.
The condition of being a migrant is determinant for many people to leave their dream forgotten. Although this should not be so. That is why we should take Charo as an example, she has reinvented herself as many times as necessary. Looking for her freedom and doing what she does best and likes to do: photography.
