Interview with Lara Zankoul; photographer

Have you ever wanted to step into a fairy tale? A magical world with enchanting colors and lights? Well you can. That is what Lebanese photographer, Lara Zankoul, creates with her beautiful photographs. Her stunning works take you to a breathtaking new world where dreams are born.

Lara Zankoul was born in 1987 and is definitely one of my favorite photographers. 

She generously answered all of my questions for this interview. 

 How old were you when you started photography?

I was 20.

What inspired you? 

Flickr website inspired me to buy my own camera and try out photography.

 

How do you come up with the ideas for your photographs? 

They usually come to me spontaneously. But when I'm not really inspired I try to get photos ideas from feelings, emotions and situations of life.

  

What camera do you use?

 I started with the Sony Alpha 200 but now shifted to the Canon 5d mark ii.

 How did you develop the style you have in your photographs?

 I worked on shaping my preferences in composition, color schemes and light, and it lead to this current style I have.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Contemporary artists: Brooke SHaden, Tim Burton, Annie Leibovitz
I also like surreal artists like Dali.

What would you like to say to the young photographers out there?

I would say don't be afraid to try new things in photography and be creative.

8) What is your favorite song?

My favorite song this week is "Telling stories" for Tracy Chapman.

Lara Zankoul is an amazing and inspiring photographer that all young photographers can look up to. You can tell that she puts in a lot of time and care into her work. Lara captures dreams, imaginations and puts them into a single photograph. That's what so magical about art. 

Here is a link to her website: http://larazankoul.com/

I hope you guys enjoyed this interview! Special thanks to Lara Zankoul taking the time to answer the questions!

-Aria

Alice Look

Alice in Wonderland has always been one of my favorite stories. Not just because of it's fun, outlandish characters like the Mad Hatter (who is my personal favorite), but also because of how it was created. Mr. Lewis Carroll was asked one day, by a little girl, to tell a story. Well, Carroll told and created a story. A story that has become one of the most famous children's books of all time! Many people claim that Alice in Wonderland is just a childish book full of nonsense, but others believe that Mr. Carroll used his intelligence and logic to put hidden meanings behind the story. He was a mathematician, so who knows? He probably did!
Alice became very popular, and many artists look into the story for inspiration.

I wanted to create an Alice inspired look, so I looked for things in my closet and quickly got to work.

(all pictures were taken by my wonderful grandmother and edited by me)

The striped tights are from an Alice costume I got last year for Halloween. It also came with some kind of tights for the arms with the same pattern, but I sadly couldn't find them..

The shirt was made by me because I couldn't find any top that would match the outfit. I used transfer paper to transfer on an original drawing from the book. Alice is holding the "drink me" bottle. I am actually also holding a "drink me" bottle in my hand if you were wondering what it was (next time, I should hold a rabbit to be clearer...). The shoes are sketchers. I chose them because they match the shoes Alice is wearing on my shirt.

The headband was added for more blue color, and to represent the flowers from the story.

I was looking through Etsy the other day, and saw these Alice shoes. They are handmade by Kristen Cleghorn. I love <3 the detail she put into them.

(the back is amazing)

Here is the link to her store: https://www.etsy.com/people/ASquaredSharpieShoes 

Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone!

- Aria

To the Circus!

     Hey guys! Today I went to the circus for the first time in 2 years. It was exciting to see those acrobats, animals, and clowns again! The show was great, and it gave me a chance to use my 300 mm camera lens (finally!). The clowns were funny, the dances were great, but what amazed me the most was this sorta hoop thingy with pointy swords on the inside with fire. It also rotated. They blindfolded the performer (putting a black sack on his head) and he jumped through the hoop while it was still spinning. It was terrifying, yet amazing. I love the circus. It's a nice place to have a laugh and enjoy everything it has to offer.

 My favorite clown of all time.

 INCREDIBLE

Wouldn't you love to join that?

cuuuuuuttttteeee

WOW

I just couldn't leave him out!

All the photos were taken with the Nikon 5100. They were not edited in any way.

 - Aria