I met Nadine through my other business, The Frankfurt Edit. Nadine had messaged us through instagram about a collaboration we were like, um, yes!!!! Nadine from Koppiright Fotografie took Janice and I out one afternoon and took photos of us. It was such a lovely experience. We walked around casually talking and when she found a spot she liked we would try to act as normal as possible while she took photos of us, well mainly Janice would try act normal! She’s use to being behind the camera.
Nadine is a family photographer, and she so naturally captures those beautiful moments of a family just being a family. She talks to you with such ease, which is comforting while your having your photo taken. At moments you have no idea she is even taking your photo and that’s when she captures those beautiful moments.
We had the chance to chat with her about her journey as a photographer, her photo style and what she loves about Frankfurt. Have a read below.
Tell us about yourself. What is your background?
When I was 20 yrs. I started an apprenticeship as a photographer in Wiesbaden, but had to stop after 6 months because I got pregnant. I wanted to have a safe job where I could earn more money than working as a photographer. That is why I started a new apprenticeship at Levi Strauss Germany. After I had successfully finished this apprenticeship I worked in the Customer Service Team for Levi’s for 4 years. During this time I studied Marketing and communication in the evenings for 2 years and after that I got offered a new job in the marketing department of Levi’s. I was responsible for online marketing activities and online shops with customers like Amazon, Zalando, Otto.de and many others. After my second child was born and I was on maternity leave for 2 years, I couldn’t get back into my old job at Levi’s because they had restructured. So a few months later I started as an Account Manager in an advertisement agency for an email marketing. But one day I started to feel dissatisfied with this agency-work and started taking pictures with my old camera again (I hadn’t taken pictures for a long time) and totally fell in love again. That was the moment when I thought about starting my own business and doing what I always wanted to do: Taking natural pictures of interesting people in beautiful places. And then I just did it. And I have to say that this was the best decision I have made so far. I just absolutely love it.
When did you start taking photographs?
I started taking pictures in a photography workshop I participated in at school. I Think it was in the 8th grade… I was 13 or 14 years.
And I still remember one photography that we discussed about in the lessons, but I never found this picture again. Even Google cannot help me with this.
It was a picture of a boy who held a camera right in front of his face so that you could only see one half of his face. The lens of the camera objective looked like it was his second eye. And this picture tells everything what I love about photography: with the one eye you see the complete reality and through the camera you see another reality that you can create yourself. I can choose how dark or light I want this moment to be remembered in the picture and I can choose in which second I take the picture…so I can pick the best moments and create a new / other reality. I think that pictures also can manipulate the reality like we all can see everyday on Instagram. That is why photography is so exiting and a creative way to express things, moments and feelings.
How would you describe your photography style?
Natural, uncomplicated, clean, emotional
What inspires you when it comes to a new photoshoot?
I love to talk to my clients in person before we start with a shooting. It is important to know, who and how this person is to take pictures of him/her. So I can say that my clients inspire me and I always come home with new ideas after having a coffee with them.
But also beautiful places in nature inspire me…every time I see a nice place my head spins around and I try to think about a possible photoshooting.
Who are your favourite photographers?
I don’t have one favorite photographer, but a lot of favorite photographs. I love black/white pictures from the early 20 century, where you can see how people looked like in this time. And also how places changed: I love to compare old pictures of places I know with the presence. One example would be the pictures of Andreas Feininger, that he took in New York in 1940.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would this be?
That is a hard question…I don’t have somebody special in my mind. But I would love to take pictures of people that once changed the world. Unfortunately most of them are dead. I think about: Martin Luther King, Sophie Scholl, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks and many more. I would have loved to talk to them while taking pictures.
What is your favourite thing to do in Frankfurt?
I love walking around and see new places that I haven’t been to yet. Frankfurt is always changing and every time you walk around you can find new shops, cafes, houses and that is what I like about Frankfurt.
What is your favourite place in Frankfurt?
I have to admit, that I have a crush for the Bahnhofsviertel. I think that this is the place in Frankfurt where you can see the complete diversity of this city. You can find bankers, hipsters, junkies, tourists, lawyers, creatives and a restaurant for every country in the world.
What do you wish Frankfurt had? What is missing in Frankfurt?
I wish Frankfurt would have more bikes instead of cars. Just like Copenhagen, Amsterdam or any other Scandinavian city. I think the people would be less stressed, we would have less traffic jams and would not have to search 1 hour for a parking spot.
Any tips or advice for newcomers to Frankfurt?
Come here open-minded and Frankfurt will surprise you. (And YES, you have to drink Äppelwoi!)
