Artist Spotlight: Photographer Susan Bradfield

Susan Bradfield is an amazing photographer that I met through our children’s school in Zurich.  She is a rare breed of photographer who does portraits, landscapes, and travel photography.

Hi! I’m so happy we got to see you before we left Zurich.  What keeps you rooted there? 

I arrived in Zurich Dec 2012 and left in June 2016.  We are now back, living in Melbourne, but I try and return to ZH 1-2 times a year.  I absolutely love shooting in Switzerland.  It is so beautiful - there are endless locations to create beautiful images. The people there really seem to understand the importance of having memories created in this special place.  And of course, coming to work in Zurich is a super excuse to catch up with the wonderful friends I made here and to spend time in this incredibly stunning country.

You have a very loyal Zurich following.  For other photographers hesitating to start a business while transient, what advice do you have?

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful Zurich following and I am always so grateful for that!  My advice is to go for it!  I waited too long to get going because our posting was potentially always ending.  I finally decided one day that I had to live my life to its fullest potential rather than waiting for ‘what if?’ to happen.  And I now wish I’d got going earlier.  Having said that, don't enter such a pathway blind to what is required.  There is a lot more involved to running a photography business than just picking up a camera such as having IT skills, marketing, business, sales etc. So be prepared to learn a lot...quickly!

 How did you get started in photography?

I trained as a physiotherapist, but have a creative side to me that wasn't really satisfied with physio.  I’ve always been drawn to photography and I completed some photography courses just before having children, but didn’t reinforce what I learned.  At that point I certainly didn’t ever dare to dream I could pursue photography as a career.  Once relocated in Zurich, I completed a Diploma in Photography and I travelled a lot and learnt from a variety of travel photographers, but the turning point was a workshop with Russian child photographer Elena Shumilova which really inspired me.  I was very lucky in that my photography took off in Zurich by word of mouth.

 You have a fabulous eye for framing and styling a shot.  How does your creative process work?

I would like to say a lot comes naturally!  But it hasn’t.  I have worked quite hard at honing my eye for detail, for composition, working with light and styling a shot and for being self-critical.  Most of it comes from making mistakes and learning from them, experimenting and practice, practice, practice. I am a bit obsessed… as anyone who has travelled with me and my camera will testify…. 

 What drives and inspires you?

I actually crave to take pictures and feel stifled if I don’t - at the risk of sounding cliche, I am passionate about what I do.  My love of photography and to improve every time I pick up my camera drives me. I am always actively learning and striving to improve and develop my style.  I am inspired by people, to capture their story and soul, I am inspired by locations, by beautiful light and I am even inspired by props.  The other day I borrowed an antique book from my Dad that is Don Quixote published in 1897 and I can’t wait to use that in a studio shoot. When I can, I continue to take part in workshops with photographers that inspire me and that always pushes me more.  

 We’ve spoken about not sticking to one specialization or style in photography, and how that can make it difficult to become successful.  You’ve built a great following and client list both in Australia and Switzerland.  How have you gotten around that?

It is difficult not to be niche because people like to be able to label you, and it can be confusing if they can’t.  In Switzerland I was both an outdoor family and portrait photographer and there was a clear separation between that and my travel photography.  In Melbourne there is still that separation, however I have added studio portraits and newborn photography into the mix.  I market and shoot and love all of it.  I have just opened an on-line store for my travel prints which is exciting. Time will tell where I head.

 Australia has an incredibly competitive photography scene.  How do you stay fresh and how do you navigate the ebb and flow of the market?

I don’t have a problem staying fresh.  There is so much to motivate and inspire me. I navigate the market by communicating with clients as I always discuss their expectations before a session. Luckily, I am quite diverse in my skills so I can adapt easily to changes demanded by the market. 

 For novice photographers like myself, what camera and lenses would you recommend?

Get a simple DSLR, do a workshop (ahem, Cara!!!) and reinforce what you've learnt over and over!  Use your phone to practice composition and perspective etc.

Also, do you have a favorite editing software for newbies?

Stick with iPhoto or a basic program until you are ready to commit to something like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.  Complete a small course beforehand so you know what you are getting yourself into and you can navigate around it with some confidence.  

It’s very risky to choose a creative career.  What advice do you have for creative hopefuls?

Running a small business is always risky if that’s the pathway you choose for a creative career.  It is complicated by having to spend a lot of time doing things that are not creatively focused but are necessary to running a business e.g. marketing, accounting, etc.  I think believing in yourself and producing work you love is the key to success. 

 Lastly, you have two children.  What advice do you have for them as they choose their career path?

I have always told my children to do something they love and be true to themselves. I completely believe this.

 Thank you so much for doing this!  I’m incredibly inspired by your creative spirit, drive, and sense of adventure.  Your photos are amazing, and I absolutely love your IG feed!!

For those of you that are looking for a fab photographer, Susan will be in Zurich in April 2019. For prints, visit her etsy shop.

Treading Water

We bow, we don’t break, we branch out.  Women have this ability to see the entirety of things, the ability to find the good stuff, the ability to connect people- that’s the sisterhood showing its best self.

Eight years ago, I looked at my husband and told him that I had a feeling his career would take off in a way that would cause us to move around.  He, being the most humble person I have ever met, laughed at me and kind of brushed me off.  A year later, we were told that we’d be moving every year or so for a program that would accelerate his career.  Here we were in our mid-twenties, about to go on the ride of our life, with our beautiful one-year old baby in tow.

Fast-forward almost a decade, and we’ve got three little girls, have lived in 8 homes, 3 countries, and 5 cities.  Our kids are the most chilled out travelers you’d ever meet.  They’ve eaten food you’ve only seen on “No Reservations” or read about in “National Geographic”.  They don’t care what language you speak, or what you look like.  They care if you’re kind, fair, and are willing to play hard on the playground.

My husband and I have learned to get by in different languages and to quickly immerse ourselves in other cultures.  It’s changed the way we parent, the way we view family, and in some ways, it has helped us learn to appreciate just how valuable family time is.

You might be thinking to yourself, this woman is bonkers.  Cultures aren’t that different, Western Europe is all the same, people are people no matter how you shake them, and I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong, but also that you’re right.  People are people. True.  But, the way you’re raised, the idea of what is and is not safe, what’s moral and immoral, that’s cultural, my friends.

Who are you at your cultural core?  As an American, I’ve learned that other countries don’t lean on the cultures of their ancestors the way we do (to be fair, the vast majority of those counties are older than ours).  How has it impacted your choices, who you are, your beliefs, and what you like to do?

For me, the last four and a half weeks have consisted of my family and I trying to navigate our feelings about being back in the US.  It feels differently than it did from when we moved back from Italy.  Very differently.  We all feel like cultural melting pots, and we can’t figure out where we fit.

You know how we turn into our spouse and our friends the more we’re around them?  You don’t mean to, but you do.  That’s how living in a different culture for an extended period of time is.  You gradually start to absorb certain aspects of that culture, whether you want or mean to.  So, leaving that culture, in the same way that starting with a new set of friends, or a new spouse, is difficult.  The thing is, when you’re returning to your own culture, everyone assumes you’ll be fine, but the reality is, you’re trying to wear jeans that used to fit, but they just don’t. 

I’m in a fortunate situation where even though I left a place that my family and I really loved and felt at home in, we have moved to a place where there are so many people that we love so much.  I have such amazing friends here in Atlanta, the kind of deep friendships that some women just don’t seem to think really exist.  I’m here to tell you, sisters- your people are out there.  Just be open, be kind, and give it time.

I know that I’ll see my Zurich and Florence sistahs sooner than not, and that I’m so lucky to have my Atlanta sisters to welcome my family and I home, and help us adjust.  I know that in a year, I’ll have a different perspective, but right now, right now I’m trying to tread water to stay afloat.  I’ll swim to shore soon.  Just not yet.

Moving.

We’re moving back to America in a few weeks, and I’ve been going through the motions.  My friends have all been loving and supportive, but sometimes explaining expat life is like explaining having a baby to someone who hasn't had a baby.  It's not challenging to understand the semantics, but truly understanding the experience isn't easy. Parts of me are fundamentally different than the person I was before I left.  Our children have had experiences that most kids never have.  We’re all feeling a little culturally out of place, and as if we’re straddling two lives while we say farewell to one, and hello to another.

We’ve repatriated before (hey, I’m not pregnant this time!), but this time feels different.  I had a baby here, our almost five-year-old defines herself as Swiss, and our eldest understands that she’s American, but doesn’t define herself as one.  Here’s the deal.  I researched expat life and repatriation the last time we did this, and I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on these last few weeks, and here’s the reality.  No one knows anything.

Moving to different countries makes you different in an undefinable way.  The best way that I can attempt to explain it, is this.  Imagine you are living in a house full of windows.  Now imagine that the shades are drawn.  That’s what I define life in the “comfort zone”, or your home country.  There’s nothing wrong with that kind of life. It’s a good life.

Now imagine that all of the shades come up, and then the glass is gone.  Totally raw exposure.  That’s what expat life has felt like for me.  I was raised with a very open world view, and then moving abroad twice has caused me to feel more open than I ever thought possible.  More curious than I ever knew I could be.  I want to know more.  See more.  Experience more.  I want to KNOW what it’s like to visit exotic places and live in places that are different than where I grew up. 

By nature, I’ve never been happy with inauthentic relationships.  I’m not a halfway person.  I believe that the people you surround yourself with are who you will become, so choose wisely and be aware of what you want in your life.  Being an expat has enabled me to learn things about myself and our family that I don’t think we would have learned, had we not had these experiences. 

I’m nervous to move back to the US for a variety of reasons- are our kids safe? (Switzerland has provided our girls with a very safe space to learn to be independent and self-sufficient), how will I fare without my best friend that I see almost every day, co-parents with me, and just understands me?, how will living in the States feel since we’ve been gone so long, and life has just kept going in the same direction (for the most part) for our friends at home?, how will our girls adjust to American schooling (our 8 year-old has never had homework, and gets a lot more time on the playground that the US allotted 24 minute recess.)?  It’s the spinning web of worry and questioning that I rely on my expat super-mamas for, because no matter how well intentioned, relatively few, if any of my friends who have never had this life experience, will ever understand just how difficult this all feels.

At the end of the day, I know that everything will fall into place.  I have a girlfriend going through a very similar experience, and I keep reminding her to give herself the same amount of grace that she gives everyone else.  It’s SO hard to practice grace and patience without myself.  So hard.  I’m a perfectionist and I want everything to be the way I want it to be.  I want Switzerland, Italy, and America to be an hour flight away.  I want my best friends to live next door.  I want our girls to grow up with all of the people that love them close by- but that’s not the life we chose, so I just have to be happy with frequent trips to rub pregnant bellies, hold babies, hang out with friends, explore, and show love as much as possible.  I have to keep reminding our girls, as we always have, that the ability to show up is the best gift you can give someone.  And we do.  We always show up.  We make time.  Locations may change, but the love, the love stays the same.

Our Swiss Miss and I a few weeks after we got home from the hospital, when my eyeballs still felt like they were going to fall out of my head.