BENGALURU: Travelling to different countries every year might sound interesting but it’s extremely challenging as well. Marta F Andres says she feels unstable in life and sometimes, lost, as she travels to countries her footballer husband Alberto Serrano is playing for. The couple moved to Bengaluru last October from Morocco with their five-year-old daughter as well as Maria’s and Alberto’s mothers.
Andres, 34, finds her escape in photography. She says, “Whenever I feel lost or unstable in life, I take my camera out and click pictures. My camera is my second child.” And she’s happy to be in India as she feels the country is a paradise for photographers. “It has a lot of colours and different people. It’s a nice experience and is helping me improve my photography skills,” she says. Travelling to different country is of course, interesting and adventurous as she gets to go to new destinations and learn about its people and culture. But it’s difficult with a five-year-old daughter. “Wherever we go, I look for a school first. Even if I do not find a home, it’s okay. But school is important,” she says. She had to take a two-year break from photography during her pregnancy and childbirth and shares that she slipped into postpartum depression and knew her camera would only come to her rescue. Hence, she started a project ‘ 52 weeks’ to click one picture of her daughter every week.
After her degree in fine arts in Barcelona, Andres moved to UK with Alberto in 2008. She says, “That was the first country we moved to. I didn’t know English and was finding it difficult to communicate. I got an opportunity to work for a newspaper. After a two-week practice, I started working for their fashion magazine as fashion photography was my passion back then. The director of the magazine told me that I could work with their fashion photographer but wouldn’t be paid. I didn’t mind as I was young and new.” On the same day, she says she clicked a few pictures and showed them to the director for feedback. She was later surprised to know that the clients liked her pictures more than their official photographer’s. “I joined them as a main fashion photographer and worked for two years,” she says.
She adds that she enjoys all kinds of photography. When she was pregnant with her daughter, she found a new inspiration and took to social photography, capturing emotions and moments of different people in Cyprus. “My degree in fine arts helps me click photographs in an artistic style,” she mentions. She has forayed into different genres such as wedding and family photography. “I try to keep working while we travel. I have a blog and a website too where I post my photographs,” she says. She’s also collaborated with NGOs Sunsita and Vincent Ferrer Foundation. She has travelled to a village called Kanganahalli near Nandi hills to click pictures of children and Anantapur to click pictures of women who work for Vincent Ferrer Foundation in the area.