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| Self-portrait Laura, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
It's not all talent but also hard work that turns Laura Su Bischoff’s photos into an eye-catcher over the social network. „At the beginning I would have never thought anyone would like my photos,“ says the student from Berlin. Once she got lots of positive feedback on facebook and flickr Laura Su became motivated to chair even more of her work. Now she is proud of the process she has made since she started to take pictures. All of her photos are made monochrome, mostly in black and white, and have nothing to do with the simplicity of digital photography.
The 27 years old likes to walk through the streets of Berlin and to focus her lens at things or people she comes across by accident. „Since I started to photograph everything appears so much more interesting to me,“ says Laura Su and describes how her own perception has changed with her new hobby.
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| Old man in Berlin, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
Laura Su Bishoff’s pictures are very diverse. One of them might show an old person partially covered in Berlin, another the speakers corner on her trip through London. Though, she isn't just interested in finding good moments to capture. Laura Su wants to be part of the whole process and therefore transformed a tiny storage room of her apartment into a darkroom. „Even when I was in school I loved to experiment with chemicals. It's a little bit like magic,“ says Laura Su and smiles. The room holds all of the material she needs to enlarge and project the negative image on photo paper to create a print. With a radiant look on her face Laura Su describes the darkroom prints which she has created through the photochemical method.
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| Speakers Corner in London, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
The long black hair falls strait over her delicate shoulders and matches the dark eyeliner. Like other people have to take a handbag when they are leaving the house Laura Su carries one of her 30 cameras around with her. Most of the time, the black plastic camera, called Holga, is her constant companion. „It is perfect to take pictures of people on the street without them taking notice of it,“ explains Laura Su why she prefers the vintage model. To take pictures of ordinary things and make them appear out of a different angle is the personal challenge for her.
2004 Laura Su started to study English, modern history and North America studies in Berlin. Close to her graduation she began to look for a new hobby because she needed a change from her final thesis. For a while she tried out painting and puppet crafting but couldn't keep it up. Then she reminded herself of her father who used to photograph, too, and gave his old cameras to his two daughters.
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| Theater festival in Berlin, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
Two years ago Laura Su traveled to the United Nations of America to work on a theater project in Vermont. When she came back she brought loads of pictures with her and realized how much she enjoyed this way of documenting the project. Shortly afterwards she took a photography class to learn more about the technical background of cameras.
Laura Su continued to shoot with the antic plastic Holga and developed the ambition to learn all about the fine art photography. She points at the old man picture she has made with the help of the Holga and comments: „I think the optic is very nice. The pictures have something imperfect in them.“ She used a toner on that image what makes it look slighly warmer.
Her favorite pictures are put up in frames in her apartment in Berlin Neukölln. All of them enlarged in black and white. „I like the vintage look they create,“ says Laura Su. One of the pictures is a portrait of her mother. Others reflect of the theater project in the United States and right next to them are pictures of the first slutwalk in Berlin.
Her favorite pictures are put up in frames in her apartment in Berlin Neukölln. All of them enlarged in black and white. „I like the vintage look they create,“ says Laura Su. One of the pictures is a portrait of her mother. Others reflect of the theater project in the United States and right next to them are pictures of the first slutwalk in Berlin.
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| Berlin Slutwalk, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
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| Beach in New York, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
Through photography Laura Su Bischoff found a way to combine all of her interests: theater and politics. Over one year she used to be part of the organization Corasol what stands for "Contre le Racisme" and " Show Solidarity". Once a month the group organizes a grocery shopping for refugees and fights against their deportation.
Laura Su loves to travel and to take pictures of the countries she visits. The photos don't show touristic highlights but intimate moments of those places. Her mother, South Korean and her father, German, moved to a small village in the west of Germany when Laura Su was born. Even though her appearance doesn't necessarily uncover her origin Laura's second forename Su is Korean. She plans to go back to South Korea this year and visit the family of her mother.
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| Mother, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff |
„There is always something I can take a picture of,” says the dainty woman. It's was a hobby found out of boredom that turned into a lasting passion. „ If I don't photograph for a long time I get sad and I miss it very much,“ she adds. For a long time Laura Su used to shoot images every single day and never stopped enjoying it. Now she still photographs two or three times a week. Nonetheless, Laura Su wants to keep it as her hobby instead of turning it into her profession. “There is no pressure on your hobby. If it’s you profession you have to photograph things you are not interested in and I wouldn’t like that.”
