Marlena Wels
1. Can you introduce yourself and talk about how you got into photography?
Hi, I’m Marlena, a Fine Art Photography and Selfportrait Artist living in the very north of Germany and to be honest, I don’t remember where my photography journey exactly started. I developed a kind of interest in taking photos in my early teenage years, but it didn’t get any serious until I did an internship at a local photo studio when I was 15. This led me to buying my first DSLR and discovering Flickr – and with that surreal photography styles that I didn’t knew they would exist, but I immediately knew I wanted to create this kind of surreal worlds, too.
2. Where did you study photography?
I’m a self-taught photographer, but I studied Multimedia Production at the University of Applied Sciences in Kiel, where I was able to implement photography in a few media projects, like surreal 360° worlds.
3. Do you remember your first shot? What was it?
No, I don’t remember the very first shot – probably it was a first try in some fairytale-related white dress princess vibe thing with terrible editing, when I was starting my photography journey. It’s way too long ago!
4. What equipment do you use?
I primarily work with a Nikon Z6. Most often I will use a 50mm 1.8 for my concept shoots, but I also own a 35mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8.
5. What do you hope to achieve?
I love dragging people into other worlds, out of reality. It’s some kind of escapism into beautiful, magical or haunted scenes. But under this surface I like to implement elements and stories – most of the times I will know exactly what I personally want to tell with this idea, as I use it often as some kind of diary. But it’s just my interpretation and I also hope that people will see their own story, the situation they’re in and feel kind of understood and cared for.
6. What compliment inspired/touched you the most?
There are two, that deeply touched me:
Someone told me I was the one, who inspired him to start with photography, which was a completely crazy feeling to hear that and another one just told me shortly: Keep the work up, warrior of light!
7. What inspires your unique storytelling?
Most of times it’s personal things. Experiences, feelings, situations or thoughts I want to work through, to visualize them, process and accept them, so that they can be a part of myself in the future.
But sometimes it’s also the beauty of nature - specific locations, plants or trees, which sparks an idea and the wish to capture the magic they inhere.
8. What THREE (3) words describe your photography style?
Surreal, magical, painterly.
9. Congratulations! As the winner of the European Photography Awards, what does it mean for you and your team to receive this distinction?
It’s a great honour of course! Seeing your work between all the other well deserving winners, is quite unreal. I always had that feeling, that my style of photography doesn’t fit in and isn’t that appreciated in the photography world. So it’s a really beautiful recognition, a bit like a „Cheer up, it’s worth the hard work!“
10. Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2023 European Photography Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?
The series „A Journey to the Self“ was created, when I was part of a little collective with the aim of bringing a little exhibition together. We chose the old term „attitude“ to be the theme and I was drawn to the former meaning of it: It was a form of art back in the old days. Something between dancing, acting and pantomime, often visualizing events in history, stories or important meaningful moments. They were often compared to living pictures. Funnily it was often perfomed by women, which was perfect for my attempt to create my own living pictures as a selfportrait artist. I chose the journey of finding the Self to be the meaningful moment and created a little travel back in time, while travelling back to your roots.
I chose this series, as it’s currently my most recent series and because I like the simplicity of staying in one frame while telling the different stages of self-reflection and discovery.
11. How has winning an award developed your career?
Well, ask me this at a later time! But honestly we’ll never now what is to come – for now it’s a big motivation boost, to keep going and to create new ideas and projects. It’s beautiful and reassuring to see others value your work!
12. Name 1-3 photographers who have inspired you.
Brooke Shaden and Rosie Hardy were the ones, who I discovered on Flickr, when I was 15. Their work showed me what is possible in photography, they kind of opened up borders for me and inspired me to discover a creative way of selfportrait photography.
13. What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out, by a mentor or your role model?
I never had a mentor, when starting out – and all the other following years. But as I mentioned, Brooke Shaden had a key role in my photography journey. Her videos and little workshops helped me to develop my purpose in what I’m doing. It helped me to shape my way and my messages and it made me realize how important constant self-reflection is. Not only for yourself, but also to find sense in your work and strength in your story.
14. What advice would you give someone who would like to become a photographer today?
Keep on going! How daunting it can be to have a vision in your head and thinking it’s not as good as I wanted it to be. Spoiler alert: This will never go away. And maybe that’s the point: to never stop growing. Always try to outgrow your own work, try to not compare yourself to others and keep in mind that every tiny step is a step forward. And we don’t need to be in a rush, every good thing is taking it’s time.
15. What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
Well, I have another question: How do you define success? I often struggle to see myself as „successful“, even if people are saying „Wow, it’s working out pretty well for you at the moment“. But it’s just that moment and I don’t feel that different after such things as winning this category. If success means having a booked job every week over the year, I’m not successful. If success means being able to afford a life on my own, I’m not successful. But if it means being happy with doing what you do, I’m pretty much successful. I may be a hopeless dreamer, but I’m deeply convinced that following your heart and dreams will lead you to your own kind of success.
16. How do you stay in that space of being receptive to new information and knowledge?
Honestly, I don’t know, if I’m good at this. When it comes to photography books, workshops etc. I’m often way too fast bored. It has to be something I really want to learn. But even then, I prefer to learn things with trying and discovering them out on my own.
