Fotógrafo Stephanie Kindermann

—En primer lugar, ¿quién puede llamar el mejor fotógrafo en Brisbane, Australia? :)

—Ha! There's a mad, crazy hoard of us.

—¿Es usted fotogénico(a)?

—Yes, and I'll tell you why – I have a high threshold for embarrassment. The less self conscious you are, the better you photograph.

—¿Cómo empezó a trabajar en la industria de fotografía?

—So here's the story – my father had been a wedding photographer and so I had my first little film disposables from about 5 years old. I’d shot probably thousands of rolls by the time I made it to photography college, but it was the moment where I was standing in the darkroom seeing that first image rise out of the chemical trays that I remember. Everyone else around me was fairly cool about the whole process but I couldn’t stop laughing with this electric thrill. This was the moment in my life where it became absolutely clear – I knew this is what I was going to do now. Weddings? Everyone loves a party. And a wedding is the best kind of party to shoot.

—¿En su opinión, cuáles son los elementos más importantes de una buena fotografía?

—Good visual narrative – all the elements needed to give you context.
The split second – at the high point of madness.
The feels – something that makes your heart hurt or leap.

—¿Le gusta viajar?

—I live for it.

—¿Qué le gusta más de su profesión?

—Learning the world's secrets.
I'll share some of them with you.
No one cooks better than a Greek mama or parties as hard as a Croatian groomsman. Vietnamese elders are the bravest karaoke singers, the French do the best cigar and whiskey bar (not to mention the cheeses) and that Ghanaians will crush any dance floor. Chinese door games can be a hair raising experience, and it is deeply moving it is to see Maori women sing a welcoming song to the bride.

—¿Qué le gusta menos de su profesión?

—When the alternate drop arrives, the chicken is always overcooked. Always.

—¿Cuál será el futuro de la fotografía?

—Wow this is cool, I hope it will be some sort of virtual reality with a fully rendered 3D capture from the entire day. You'll be able to bang on your head set and take a walk through the entire event from any time and angle.

—¿Qué tiene de especial el género fotográfico en que trabaja?

—Often having a professional photograph your family is a very rare event. With this in mind I always devote a lot of time and care to capture portraits of treasured people – grandparents, GREAT grandparents, brothers, sisters, children.

—¿Cómo gestiona las críticas?

—I walked through a lot of fire in my early years of learning to shoot, and I'm still here :) Think of my teacher as being that old guy from Kill Bill who strokes his beard a lot.

—¿Existe alguna tendencia en la fotografía?

—Yes, and they're mostly so cheesy. Things like making love hearts with your hands.... plz no!

—¿Qué criterios debería tener en cuenta una persona a la hora de elegir a un fotógrafo?

—Love the work – don't employ your photographer then ask for an aesthetic from another artist!
Vibes! Would you want to drink a beer with them? Ideally you start the booking process with good vibes, and finish the wedding singing bad karaoke together.

—¿Qué no está permitido de ningún modo cuando realiza una fotografía?

—Hunger. Bride, groom, photographer and squad members should be loaded up with snacks. Picnic style canapes and champagne if you're fancy, sausage rolls and red bull if you're not.

—¿Qué detalles que normalmente no tenemos en cuenta puede un fotógrafo captar?

—Ha! "Common people," love it.
One of my favourites is the tight-lipped, crazy-eyed stage-whispered threats of a parent to errant child – usually during a particularly tender moment during the ceremony.

—¿Qué influye en el valor de una fotografía? ¿Cuáles son sus elementos?

—The value in a photo is, I feel, in how valued the subject is in it.
For example, a wife will always love a portrait of her husband that has captured how she sees him. If he's a charismatic person, than a genuine laugh. If he's a quiet person, then a photograph of him unaware, relaxed and thoughtful.

—En su opinión, ¿qué persona podría ser un símbolo del siglo XXI?

—Elon Musk. Billionaire, genius, puts a model car in his real car then launches it into space. What a legend.

—¿A quién le gustaría fotografiar?

—People madly in love.

—¿Tiene tabúes profesionales?

—I am a woman of no limits.

—¿Con quién le gustaría fotografiar?

—Jonas Peterson. He seems like a very relaxed, interesting fellow.

—¿Qué le preocupa y por qué?

—Mostly I have dreams where I've overslept my alarm and a bride is calling me, asking where I am, and I'm a 2 hour drive away. I guess that's my biggest worry.

—¿Cuál ha sido el momento más impactante de su vida?

—Once, driving home very late from a wedding (of course), I saw space junk or a comet or the worlds most massive shooting star – so bright it illuminated everything around me. It travelled directly down the line of the straight highway I was driving for a full 10 seconds before burning out. An exceptional moment.

—Si fuera un personaje de animación, literario o cinematográfico, ¿quién le gustaría ser y por qué?

—Trinity from The Matrix. She was cool and wore latex before lip injections and enormous butts became the symbols of beauty.

—¿Quién le inspira en su vida y por qué?

—Jimmy Nelson, photographer and author of Before They Pass Away. His is a body of work that is truly exceptional and of historical value.

—¿Cómo definiría el éxito? ¿Cómo lo mide?

—Can't measure it but you can feel it – are you getting enough quality sleep? Are you eating well and sharing good wine with friends? Do you have leisure time with your loved ones, and does your work fill you with pleasure?

—¿Qué prefiere, gustar o sentirse respetado?

—Not everyone will like you all of the time, but you should always conduct yourself in a way that people have no loss of respect for you.

—¿Cuál es el mayor error que ha cometido en su trabajo?

—Working at a camera shop, shipped two very expensive video cameras to someone who turned out to be fraudulent. OOPS!

—Cuando va de viaje, ¿qué lleva consigo y por qué?

—My husband, because he can read maps.

—¿Se arrepiente de alguno de los gadgets que ha comprado? ¿Por qué?

—No, but people love to "gift" me their defunct camera gear. Please stop doing this baby boomer friends.

—¿Cómo se forma para tomar las mejores imágenes?

—I spend A LOT of time on lovely curation sites like this one.

—¿A quién pertenece el trabajo que le ha influenciado más como fotógrafo?

—Steve McCurry (again). Portrait photographer for National Geographic.

—¿Cuál es la única cosa que desearía haber sabido cuando comenzó a tomar fotografías?

—That the rules don't actually matter, and only diminish the potential expression of true moments.

—¿Qué desea decir con sus fotografías?

—This is a mirror of your life in this moment.

—¿Qué le motiva a continuar tomando imágenes?

—I have no other talents. LOL, no I can cook quite well. But photographing is my true purpose.

—¿Cree que sus padres deberían haber sido más o menos estrictos?

—Less. I was raised conservative Catholic. Not allowed to watch The Simpsons when you're 17... come on!

—¿Si pudiera volver atrás en el tiempo, qué haría de forma diferente?

—I wouldn't bother going to study, and instead buy a great kit and apprentice myself out 3 years earlier instead. I did the ol' highschool > study > apprentice > professional route. But study is now a moot point with online resources like Linda.com.

—¿Qué piensa de la vida en otros planetas?

—Oh jeez I hope so. Certainly spices things up.

—¿Quiénes son sus héroes?

—My colleagues, for lifting my heavy, heavy camera bag up and down stairs and into the car innumerable times.

—¿Por quién no siente respeto?

—Paedophiles

—¿Qué hace en su tiempo libre?

—I punch through Netflix series like a karate master does bricks.

—¿Cuál es su lado desconocido que la gente nunca quiere ver?

—Lying around in pyjamas, no makeup, orange Dorito stained fingers, unshaved legs.

—¿Cuándo está complemente satisfecho de su trabajo?

—When a couple tells me they cried seeing the pictures. (With JOY).

—¿Cree en los roles tradicionales de hombres y mujeres?

—There are definitely things men are better at, like being muscly and crushing rocks with their bare fists. And there are definitely things women are better at, like looking good in high heels and jean shorts.

—¿Hace amigos con facilidad?

—Yes

—¿Dónde le gustaría vivir?

—I'd love a couple of years in Istanbul. I'm a big fan!

—¿Cuál es la cosa más estúpida que ha aceptado hacer?

—To go on a VERY long bush walk, mere hours after getting home from a pub crawl.

—¿Hay vida después del matrimonio?

—YES! It just keeps getting better!

—¿Tiene un chiste favorito? Cuéntenoslo.

—Any Gary Larson comic ever published. He might be the funniest man on earth.

—¿Le gustan los perros o los gatos?

—Cats. I'm not embarrassed.

—¿A quién o qué odia?

—Celery. Eww

—Lo mejor de su vida es:

—Champagne and cheeses with friends.

—Lo más molesto de su vida es:

—People farting next to you on flights.

—¿Hay algo a su alrededor que le gustaría cambiar?

—I'm about to try my hand at home renovation, in a very literal interpretation of that question!

—¿Qué le gustaría cambiar de usted mismo?

—I would love to learn Chinese. And sign language. And also do some pottery. And learn to ride horses. Probably should exercise more too.

—¿Qué le gustaría cambiar del mundo?

—Let's turn down the level of racism shall we, it seems to be gaining momentum instead of losing it.

—¿Podría ofrecer algunos consejos a los fotógrafos que empiezan?

—Sure! Don't train yourself out of -not- shooting things. Such as the weird, or awkward, or funny or embarrassing moments. These are some of the greatest photographs you could take!

—Si los extraterrestres llegaran a la Tierra y fuera la primera persona que encontraran, ¿qué les diría?

—I guess I'd ask them if they wanted to join us for lunch, I know a good place...

—Si le llamaran como fotógrafo de una película, ¿a qué género pertenecería?

—Whatever genre Monty Python calls itself.

—Mañana voy a hacer...

—EDIT! Pat my cat. Email clients! Poke around the fridge and hope for the best. Print some albums! Look at memes!