This week’s blogger spotlight is on Kirsten Alana, a masterful photographer and travel writer all in one awesome bundle, and creatrix of the blog Aviators and a Camera. Apart from bring a terrific human being, I am so proud to call her my good friend. We catch up with her in a Q&A.
Q: Since you're a photographer and a journalist rolled into one awesome bundle, can you share with us a few photos that really tell a story–and why?
Kirsten Alana: I think the images I'm most proud of, are those from Paris. It's a place I've had a three decade love affair with. Maybe my images could never live up to that kind of expectation. Yet I had to try and in the end, I love what I captured while there.
Q: What prompted you to start traveling? What are some of your earliest travel memories?
As an adult, my divorce was a hugh catalyst. I'd always wanted to travel more, finally I could. Travel became a break from life and a new start, really. As a child, I never felt at home anywhere, fully. I think I traveled so that I could find a home or a sense of home. My earliest travel memories are the road trips I took with my mother, her best friend and my best friend – driving in a rusted-out van through Vermont, Canada and the wild, untamed parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They'd send Katra and I to a camp in the wilderness every summer, then pick us up and road trip home. There were no huge adventures yet those are among the only truly beautiful memories I have from my childhood.
Q: Name three places you've loved visiting this year.
France, Austria, Uruguay
Q: Name three places you'd love to travel next year.
Spain, Japan, Australia
Q: What are some things you could never travel without?
My camera, my iPhone (which is also a camera for me), a sense of adventure, a notebook (usually Moleskine).
Q: How do you capture travel memories other than through photographs (e.g. souvenirs, postcards etc.?)
I write down thoughts in a paper journal when I travel. I often buy an extra postcard to keep, additional to the ones I send friends. I like to collect stickers, stones, shells and random found objects. If jewelry really inspires me and seems to capture a place, I will buy that. Sometimes a scarf. However, it's my photographs that ultimately take me back once a trip is complete.
- As told to Charu Suri. If you would like to be considered for the Blogger Spotlight Section, please email me at charu AT Butterflydiary DOT COM.
From Kirsten:
Awh!! Thanks for featuring me my love. It's an honor and even more so – to call you my friend is a dear blessing to me. XOXO