Author Interview: Vicki Landes
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- June 28th, 2009 |
- Comments
What’s it like to be a writer AND photographer? ReaderViews sat down with author Vicki Landes to talk about her new book, Europe for the Senses.
ReaderViews: Thanks for talking with us today Vicki. We are interested to hear more about you, and your beautiful photography book “Europe for the Senses: A Photographic Journal.” Would your start off by telling us what your book is about, and what you are trying to convey finished the photos?
Vicki: “Europe for the Senses &ndash A Photographic Journal” is a jaunt/photography book meant to do more than just display European destinations. It’s a collection of photography and creative writing meant to carry the reader to each respective destination with challenging perception imagery. Experience the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and adjoin that make Europe a remarkable compilation of unambiguously beautiful countries. Whether a novice or a seasoned person, EFTS hopes to invoke a craving for Europe &ndash not only for the major attractions that attract so many but the bantam, much overlooked details inactivity to be discovered.
RV: Vicki, where were you born, and where are you living now?
Vicki: I was born in St. Charles, Missouri and stayed thither until I left for college. My family hardly cosmopolitan so I never considered exploring other places. My husband and I had been living in Kansas City, Missouri for a couple years when he received military orders to Stuttgart, Germany. I was livid &ndash I’d just graduated college, we’d just bought a house and I’d just had a baby so I went to Germany literally kicking and screeching. After about cardinal months, tho’, I really got into perception new places and we’ve been living in Stuttgart for VII years now! Since my husband is active duty Army, he had to extend a couple of times (tours are normally III years) and he did so only because I loved it here so much.
RV: Since living in Stuttgart, Germany, you have cosmopolitan to 45 countries. Would you comment on your obvious love for jaunt? And, have these destinations been predominately for your photography pursuits?
Vicki: When I moved over here, I was aghast at how rich the European history was. In the states, we can call something ‘historic’ which only ends up being a couple hundred years old at the most. In Europe, tho’ you can call places that are literally a 1000 years old…sometimes even older! This is absolutely amazing to me and I can’t appear to get enough of this. I’ve been to thousand-year-old monasteries where you can walk capable the ancient endocarp columns that are activity the massive roof and cloak your arms around them to feel the cold endocarp on your cheek (you couldn’t get away with this in the states without an alarm going off and getting tackled by assets). I’ve explored the inside of mines that predate the time of Christ. ‘Newer’ destinations can include gothic cathedrals, baroque palaces, or Class Action I monuments. There’s no end to what is out thither to discover. Europeans really believe the importance of their history and the need to preserve it. No, the photography has not driven the destinations &ndash it’s actually the opposite. I’ll call something I’m truly interested in and I just always keep a camera in draw.
RV: What inspired you to compose “Europe for the Senses”?
Vicki: I didn’t even consider writing a book until my grandparents advisable it. After every trip I accept, I send an email with attached pictures out to friends and family describing the places I’d just been. I didn’t just deprivation to apportion the pictures, I craved them to feel what I’d felt when I was standing thither. I craved them to get a meaning of what that particular place stood for &ndash whether it was a famous place or something nobody had heard of. Europe is chock full of haunting things and vigil Big Ben can be just as profound as being the lone feeling exploring castle ruins on a mountaintop. I also came to realize that many people are afraid to visit new places &ndash even other military families abroad. It can be difficult to block outside of our comfort zones, especially in the ambivalent times we live in today. I didn’t deprivation to just compose a book with jaunt information &ndash thither are plenty of those out thither (which I consume religiously!). Instead, I craved to convey Europe in much a artifact that might make action that first jaunt block a bit easier. If you develop a yearning for something, it’s not as chilling to do.
RV: Which countries do your glare in “Europe for the Senses” and are these your favorite places in Europe? Why do you believe Europe lends itself so advantageously to photography?
Vicki: I have 15 different countries spotlighted in “Europe for the Senses”. Germany and Italy are concentrated on heavily because they appear to be the most popular among tourists (and they are my cardinal favorites!). The other countries include: Switzerland, Austria, England, The Netherlands, Iceland, The Vatican (it’s a country all to itself!), Hungary, The Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, as advantageously as a couple from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Republic of Georgia.
I believe thither are a couple reasons why Europe lends itself so advantageously to photography. First, Europe is immensely different as you jaunt from place to place. You don’t have to go far to administer snow-capped mountains or flourishing vineyards. Thither can be an entire spectrum of environments and cultures inside a abbreviated flight or drive just inactivity to be captured on film (or on your memory adhere J ). 2nd, as you jaunt you can call sites that have survived any of the most destructive forces of nature and man &ndash photographing these places feels like you are preserving a bit of history. No matter what happens, they will live forever in your photographs.
RV: Are the photographs in “Europe for the Senses” of the major holidaymaker attractions? How did you narrow down the ones that you feature in your book?
Vicki: I’ve mixed a bit of world-famous sites with little-known ones. I don’t believe you should come to Europe just to accompany the Big Bens and the Leaning Towers. Even the smallest detail of a little-known place can be ‘the one’ that corset in your heart long after the trip is over.
Picking which destinations would be in the book was real difficult &ndash I’ve good enjoyed most of the places I’ve been to. I poured finished hundreds and hundreds of shots in my collection and found the ones that seemed to sing out. Thither were a few that I ended up cutting out before we got to the final layouts. I craved to ensure that thither were places that people would definitely associate with vacations (much as Germany and Italy) but a few that would make people act and have, “Wow, I can holiday thither? I’ve never considered this place before!”
RV: When did you discover you had a endowment for photography?
Vicki: I started action photography classes in 4-H when I was in elementary school. My dad was the instructor and a few years into it, I won my first photography contest (much to my attack). I’ve been action pictures for most of my life but never considered distribution them until my grandparents advisable the book &ndash that’s probably when I realized I actually had a endowment for it J
RV: Your narrative that accompanies the photographs is a big part of the full-sensory experience of your book. Would you give us an idea of your writing communication, and your thoughts about exploitation writing to bring life to your photographs?
Vicki: Thither are many photography books out thither that have a ‘forward’ at the beginning and so consume only captions to identify the shots. I craved my book to be different &ndash vivid descriptions of each area would truly put the reader into the pictures. I craved people to really feel what it would be like to sub the middle of an endless tulip field in Holland &ndash touching the brushed petals and gazing at the spectrum of colors or savouring the breathtaking Tuscan countryside with all of your senses &ndash not just your eyes. Each of these places can leave you with much a deep, multifaceted memory if you don’t rush finished them.
RV: Did you have professional training in photography or creative writing?
Vicki: About 5 years deserving of 4-H photography classes and regular coaching and practice from my dad over the years. We had a dark room in the basement so he taught me how to develop film and reduce/enlarge from negatives. I’ve had no formal creative writing training other than finished school over the years. I’m currently employed on my Masters degree so I’ve appropriated plenty of writing classes.
RV: Vicki, the senses are a predominate theme for your book. Would you comment on the importance of enlisting all the senses when travelling, and how you’ve personally come to this conclusion?
Vicki: When I first started travelling, I craved to just accompany as much as possible &ndash that meant rushing finished to cram it all in. The weekends ended up being a blur and my memory of the trip not only included the destination, but the feeling of rushing around, lack of kip, and a cranky husband and son. I presently realized that although I was perception quite a bit, I wasn’t left with a profound memory of the destination. When I started retardation down and becoming aware of what I was odorous, how the change insolate felt (or the chilly rain), or how I lost my breath at the compass, the trip became an experience. I don’t just remember what something looked like now &ndash my nose remembers, my cutis remembers, and my heart remembers.
RV: Would you explain to us your own personal modality of action photography that awakens the senses?
Vicki: When I’m vigil a potential computer, I accompany lighting and balance as most important. It’s amazing how a bantam block to one broadside or another can completely change how the light strikes and where the balance lies. I’ll accept various shots from various different angles and the LCD check on my camera lets me check the picture immediately. I’ve been known to position on the floor of a cathedral (I’ve gotten pretty good at a ‘respectful sprawl’ in these places J ) or sub the middle of a road to get the right attempt.
RV: Why do you believe a photograph can leave much a powerful imprint on someone’s memory?
Vicki: A photograph is like a piece of the real abstraction. Those that long to call a certain destination only need to analyze a picture to get that heartache. They have that ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’ &ndash if you can accompany someone’s feeling by looking into their eyes, the feeling can accompany out and experience that photograph &ndash that piece of the real place &ndash and be left with an emotional impression.
RV: Which countries would you allay like to call?
Vicki: Plenty! I haven’t been to Ireland yet and I’ve got family roots thither (apparently, we come from a line of Irish grave robbers). I also haven’t been to Spain or Portugal yet. I don’t limit myself to Europe, either…I’ve visited 12 African countries so and I deprivation to accompany various more!
RV: How can readers find out more about you and your book?
Vicki: Call my site at .EuropeForTheSenses.com &ndash it’s got book information, reviews, press symptom (including my press release and coverage from TV, radio, magazine, and newspapers), and more. I’ve got links to my blog and my online photography galleries where you can analyze and purchase every single print from the book. I also offer a free newsletter that features a different destination each week! Readers can email me with questions &ndash I get plenty of questions that range from asking about a circumstantial place to how I got published.