A Tale of Three Cities: Finding Home with Sara Feigin
9 Share TweetHaving lived in Virginia, London, and Brooklyn within the last few years, now NYC-based photographer Sara Feigin explores what defines each location as a home. Check out her lovely photos here.
Hi Sara! Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm Sara and I'm mainly a concert and portrait photographer. I'm currently based in Brooklyn, New York but I spent half of my twenties living in London. I was in London for university where I studied photography and then moved back again to get my Master's degree in Digital Journalism.
How did you first discover your passion for photography?
My grandparents got me a point and shoot camera for either my birthday or Hannukah when I was around 10 years old. As I got older I would bring a point and shoot digital camera with me everywhere I went, and when I was around 14, I saw a woman in front of me at the barrier at an Arctic Monkeys show taking photos of the band and so I asked her how she did that. That's when I found out photography could be a job, so I went home and told my parents I wanted to be a photographer and my dad gave me his SLR camera to play with. I started taking photography classes at the International Center of Photography in NYC when I was around 15 years old and it was all over for me from there.
Tell us about this project. What is it about?
Over the past 7 years, I moved from Long Island to London, my parents moved from Long Island to Virginia, I moved to Brooklyn from London, moved back to London and then eventually wound up back in Brooklyn with some time in between at my parents in Virginia. Each place I've lived has made me feel different ways and see the world differently. Virginia is my safe haven, London is where I feel I belong and Brooklyn/NYC is overwhelming yet has this safe familiar feeling due to growing up in the city. I wanted to try and capture the way each city made me feel by using different cameras and shooting each city in very specific ways, whether that be using different lenses or shooting things from closer or farther away.
What was your experience like shooting in all three places?
Shooting in London was easy because I knew exactly what bits of my neighborhood were most special to me. Whereas shooting in Brooklyn was harder because I had only recently just moved back and the hustle and bustle of my neighborhood and not having anywhere that was significant to me yet made it harder to know what to shoot. Then going to Virginia was a treat, but shooting there was more of a project as I find the scenery in my parent's town so interesting and foreign to me. I wanted to capture everything from the tranquility of the lake to the eeriness of the abandoned shops and barns near their house.
What was your favorite camera to shoot with and why?
I think my favorite camera is the Mamiya 645j. I love that it's medium format but that I can still shoot portrait or landscape. I also love that whenever I shoot with it, it feels more like I'm creating art than it feels with any of my other cameras. I think it's because of the weight of the camera and having to frame things so perfectly in order to get the shot you want. But those photos are always some of my favorites captures I get.
What can we expect to see from you in the future? Any other projects in the works?
I'm hoping to be shooting more shows in the new year and working with more artists. I'm also working on branching out into the world of love and shooting weddings as well. As for personal projects, I've been planning a project for a while that involves my friends and their favorite part of the city, but we shall see!!
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