We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Esseiva a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I discovered film photography during a visual arts course at my school when I was 15. I immediately loved this medium, which lets you capture the moment. A few years later, I bought my first camera, a Nikon D40x.

With this new camera, I tried out a number of photographic genres: portraiture, weddings, fashion and nudes. But it was during a trip to Chile in 2012 that I discovered landscape photography. It allowed me to bring back beautiful memories of the places I visited. You might think that landscape photography can be monotonous, but in fact it requires a lot of patience because the light changes so quickly. You have to know how to wait for the right moment to capture an extraordinary moment that will make your viewers dream. For me, landscape photography is painting with light.

For my professional career, I decided to go into marketing and to keep photography as a passion. So I learnt a lot on my own, in my spare time and on my various trips. For me, the main quality of any artist is to be able to open your eyes to the world, to be willing to look at the work of others and to be able to question it, so that you can evolve.

Jennifer, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a landscape photographer, my aim is to make people travel and dream by showing them the beauty of our planet. I enjoy working in series because when I visit a place, I always start with a wide-angle shot to get a general view, then I like to switch to a telephoto lens to capture details of the landscape.

I am currently present on various media: Instagram, Behance, LinkedIn, Etsy and on my portfolio. I regularly post new photos as well as stories that allow my followers to follow me on my travels, share my experiences and sometimes see behind the scenes.

In 2021, I opened a shop on Etsy that offers prints of different sizes of my photos, which can be personalised according to demand. The prints are made by a professional printer in Switzerland. I make a point of checking each print before dispatch to ensure its quality. Delivery is available worldwide.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are lots of them! First, simply when someone raves about one of my images and tells me they love it. I often receive touching comments from people on social networks who love my work and encourage me.

On Etsy, people often tell me that they bought a print because it reminds them of a trip, a past moment and emotions they felt on the spot. This really touches me, because it gives a whole new dimension to my work.

What’s more, I’m recognized by the people around me. My family is very supportive and encouraging. I’m lucky to have these people around me who help me capture my vision of the world. Thank you all so much!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Starting a career in social networking isn’t easy, because there’s a lot of competition and it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd. Nevertheless, I believe there’s always a chance to gain visibility through perseverance and consistency.

Thanks to my work as a marketing coordinator, I’ve learned that each social network has its own rules, and it’s by following these that I’ve managed to make a name for myself. You have to take the time to discover and enjoy other people’s work. I’m lucky enough to be able to count on the expertise of my colleagues, who have been able to suggest good ideas to help me improve.

What’s more, I’m convinced that it’s better to have a small community of true fans who like my work than to have 100k followers who aren’t interested.

My advice is: be patient, publish regularly, respond to comments and use the tools offered by social networks to publish your content.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jenniferesseiva.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferesseiva/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferesseiva/
• Behance : https://www.behance.net/jenniferesseiva
• Etsy : https://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferEsseivaPhoto

Image Credits
© Jennifer Esseiva