Conversation with Photographer Yolanda Vom Hagen

I first met Yolanda through a social media art group when she was making a call for volunteers to participate in one of her photography projects. The first time I met her in person my first impression was this very tall and slender, beautiful and unpretentious woman, then I got to talk to her and I was immediately hit by her insightful and caring personality, it only takes a few seconds to know what Yolanda is all about, because of her blunt honesty, an aspect of her personality that she admits sometimes gets her in trouble.

Originally from Düsseldorf, West Germany Yolanda is a freelance photographer, educated in communication design, she came to Beijing to complete her studies and here she found the right environment to develop her work as a photographer. Very soon she found herself in love with the culture and immersed in the way of living of the locals, which would later become the motif of her work that seems more like an anthropological exploration.

To me, one of the most interesting aspects of Yolanda’s work is her creative process, which I could describe as intuitive, holistic, yet straight forward and simple. Based basically on observation, devoided of prejudice and preconceptions , “being respectful and appreciative” as she puts it, but most importantly facing each project with a beginners mentality, something that is fundamental to any creative mindset and that basically means approaching every new project and challenge with an open mind, a clean slate, without filters of judgment, which allow us to have a much broader and unpolluted perspective.

Yolanda takes events and situations from daily life, dissects them to find the substance to later transform them in the source of inspiration for her artistic projects.

After almost an hour of conversation, I left feeling that we came up short, that there was much more to talk about, which I think it’s a great thing because it will give her time for her to come up with new projects and ideas that I’m sure we will discuss in another episode.