I think the reason why, and the only reason why I take pictures is to capture a moment of beauty. It’s like getting a testimony, a proof, a trace – anything that will keep that moment alive because soon none of this will be. The people, the places, the things we did, the way we felt – all of that will pass and I want to keep tokens of that.

Basically for me taking a picture is an act of love. It’s attempting to take what I see and display it back into the world with an extra coat that screams “I LOVED THIS!”. If I take your picture it means I love you and you will probably never hear me say those words as I become more a woman of actions than a woman of words.

When I was a child my dad wasn’t very cuddly but he would always take pictures of us. My brothers and I have lots of pictures of us as kids. Same with my maternal grand-father. I don’t really remember him but I know he would always take pictures of us and also film us – therefore he loved us. To an extent that’s why I try to take lots of pictures of my nephew and niece because childhood memories disappear like snow in the morning sun. After the dream of fifteen years of childhood passes (who ever really remembers their childhood accurately? it’s such a mysterious time) then these pictures will stay and they will mean something, if not to the world (i’m not that delluded!) but at least to the people involved.

I’m not an outstanding photographer but I’m not trying to be. My pictures are ok, some even good – must admit that the technology has a lot to do with it: with a good camera and lense it’s easy to take nice pictures. I don’t have the ambition to create classic or universal pictures, I just want to remember.

This is why I struggle to understand photographers who only do commissioned work. I have a lot of photographers around me and I do not understand the appeal of photographing products, bags, bottles or even models. I find that exercise so soulless. The only people I ever want to photograph are my friends, my family, possibly even strangers but meaningfully; and the only places – places I love.

Funnily enough through the years I have done many portraits of my “professional” photographer friends but yet they never took a single picture of me. I wonder if that’s because I wasn’t pretty enough or lucrative enough or not loved enough.