Public Republic

Mariana Velichkova’s interview with Yessenia Quiros

When and how did you decide to become a photographer?

It’s been a long process. About twelve years ago, while on my honeymoon, I was taking pictures with a disposable camera and photographed some crabs and some landscapes. It was like discovering a new world, since then, I’ve been growing and learning about photography.

What are your pursuits while taking pictures?

I seek to catch more than just a simple image. I try to capture a feeling, a message, a new angle, a hidden detail.

How has photography changed your life?

In one word: Incredibly!
It has allowed me to grow as a person. It has made me a lot more secure; it helped me to look at nature in a different way, to see simple things as something extraordinary; it has showed me how to find art everywhere and in every little thing. By changing the way I perceive things, it has helped me to try to become better and to take care of nature.

What is your dream destination for taking pictures?

Every year, thousands of tourists come to Costa Rica because of its natural beauty: its landscapes, beaches, mountains and volcanoes. Through photography, I’ve discovered in my own country a paradise for nature and photography lovers. I still have a lot to discover in my country (Coco’s Island, Chirripo Mount, Tortuguero Canals ), but I’m enjoying it.

What are your realizations about photography?

I believe photography is a technique to interpret images. It is true artistic expression that allows you to communicate beauty, sorrow, awe, happiness, sadness, exaltation, disappointment and a lot more.

Who are you besides photography?

I am a woman who enjoys life with my children and husband. I am a person who believes in friendship, who likes to learn and teach, a woman who puts a lot of passion in everything she does. I am a perfectionist and I believe that God created a beautiful world to enjoy and take care of.

Biography:

Yessenia Quiros lives in a small city called San Isidro de El General of Costa Rica, Central America. She is 29 years old and got married twelve years ago and has three children, one girl and two boys.

She is a self taught photographer. She began photography as a hobby, but soon it became an important part of her life through expressing herself as an artist. Since 2002, she began learning digital edition techniques using two different types of software: Adobe Photoshop and Corel Photoshop. At the same time she got a digital camera, first a little compact one, then a reflex Cannon 400 XTi, now she owns one reflex Cannon 40D.

With her cameras, studying by herself, her passion and a lot of sensibility she has been able to take hundreds of pictures. Her principal area of development is nature and landscape photography.

Her work has been exposed in online galleries like: fotonaturaleza.net, fotosmundo.com and Flickr.com. In the last one, sixty of her pictures have won first place in the “20 photographic themes “section. (http://www.flickr.com/groups/20temasfotogrficos/). She also had an exposition in June 2008 as an invited artist for “Casa Arte” inauguration in one of the art schools in her city.

In the commercial side, her specialties are wedding photography, family portraits, interior decoration, advertising design, picture restoration and digital photo montage.