Beyond the Landscape with Viktoria Haack
I first discovered Nikon Ambassador Viktoria Haack’s photography a number of years ago when I was looking for a photography tour or workshop in Scotland. It turned out that along with David Topping, she was leading a workshop to the Isle of Skye. One look at her photography and I knew that workshop would be too great an opportunity to pass up. Since then I’ve had numerous conversations and seen her speak in public on a couple occasions. Viktoria was the first guest I had in mind for the Shutter Trails podcast and the first guest I booked.
Viktoria Haack
Originally from the UK, Viktoria spent ten years living and working on Brownsea Island, a 500-acre nature reserve managed by the National Trust. This helped train her eye to notice subtle changes in weather, light and the seasons and that experience eventually led her into a photography career that now spans landscape, intimate nature, wildlife, portrait, pet, tourism and other genres. She has since made British Columbia Canada home.
A forest in the mist
We had a great, wide ranging conversation and Viktoria explained why she resists photographic labels as well as why being a multi-genre photographer has allowed her to remain creative and adaptable. She said her love of nature started as a child, wandering the English countryside, continued to develop during her time on Brownsea Island and has stuck with her in what she describes as beautiful British Columbia, which, coincidentally, is the slogan on the province’s licence plates.
Beautiful backlighting on this forest scene
Viktoria’s photography has led her to notice how much of nature is being crushed by the actions and impact of others and she is very careful to be ethical and sensitive to the natural environment and wildlife that she photographs. She tries to put herself in the animals place, looking at it from their point of view and think how a photographer’s presence and actions might make them feel.
Like a scene from a dream, Viktoria captured this image of a wild Camarague horse in southern France
In addition to being a wonderful photographer, Viktoria has been a judge in a number of different photography competitions, including the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, which was previously discussed on an earlier episode with Matt Payne, although she hasn’t entered any competitions herself. She made a point to say that those who enter a competition and don’t do as well as they hoped should not feel bad, as the judges all have their own perspectives and it doesn’t mean that their work isn’t good. “If you love it, if you feel attached to it and you love that image for whatever reason, then that's good enough, and hopefully that nothing is going to put you off from feeling that that.”
The salmon’s journey ends as the bear’s meal
When talking about the wide range of genres that she photographs, Viktoria stated that she does not feel she fits into any specific category of photographer, so she calls herself a generalist or multi-genre photographer because she can’t think of a better way to say the she just photographs whatever she likes. Take a look at the portfolio on her website , Viktoria Haack Photography, and you’ll see what a wide range of genres that she beautifully covers.
This, a more intimate scene, is not a departure from Viktoria’s photographic repertoire, rather it is a fine example of “something she likes”; a scene that caught her eye
There was lots more covered in the episode and I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Viktoria. If you haven’t already had a chance to check it out, it can be found on:
YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
To learn more about Viktoria or see her works, head over to her website, Instagram or her community on Facebook.
