Hi Charlotte, tell us a little about yourself.
Hi there, my friends call me Lotta. I’m from Berlin, I mostly lived in Bali over the last eight years and now I’m trying to create my dream of a coastal life in Byron Bay.
You were born in Berlin, that’s pretty far from the beach, how did you discover your love for the ocean?
Me and my family left Berlin for a few years while I was still young & I grew up right next door to the Baltic Sea. We visited the East Frisian Islands many times. I learned to surf on Norderney as a teenager and ever since have being passionate about saltwater.
Did you always want to be a photographer?
No. When I was younger I either wanted to be a doctor like my dad, or a Journalist or Archaeologist like my childhood hero Indiana Jones. When I fell for cameras my wish was always to become a camera woman for conflict and/or nature documentaries. Every second year I try to get hooked up as a photographer for Expeditions to Amazon or Antarctica. Maybe 2020 is my year.
You’ve travelled all over the world, where is your favourite place to shoot?
I’m deeply in love with the colours of the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia and Siargao Island in the Philippines. The blue of the ocean, the green of the jungle and red to purple of the sunsets – it seems like mother nature is an absolute legend with lightroom …
In a male dominated scene, you seem to be a natural advocate for women of the sea, how important is it to you to promote females in the industry?
Even though it seems like that they are in a way better position than a few years back, and that there’s a whole new female generation coming who will be chasing the endless summer as well, it is still very important to me to speak up for gender equality. When social media gives you the voice to promote something good you should see it as a chance and use it. And how good is the feeling of supporting and not against each other also?
You’ve got a great knack for capturing intimate moments with your subjects. What’s your process?
I seem to be calming on others, that’s what many people told me at least. Making your subject comfortable is one of the essentials for creating sick content together.
Best shot you’ve ever missed?
Can’t think about a good shot I’ve missed but a few were I fucked up. When my friend pulled into his air at Cloud9, Siargao – deep dark clouds in the back, crisp blue water in the front – I got water drops on my port – the drops were in focus, he wasn’t.
If you could hang one piece of art on your wall what would it be?
Probably one of the modern portraits of artist Frida Kahlo.