About me
How I got started
To look, to see, to appreciate the magic of the moment, to travel in body and mind, to talk to others, to tell stories, to be alive: these are the defining elements of my personal story. Images have almost always been a part of my life, but I was only able to pick up a camera when I was 18. It was love at first sight, which has lasted ever since.
I believe that every photograph is also a kind of self-portrait. During a photo walk we focus on self-expression, on projecting our inner images. How a picture reflects the feelings, the mind of the photographer and through that, their personality. Whether we take pictures with a phone or a “traditional” camera, alone or in pairs, in a small group session or as part of a coaching process, we use images as a feedback to help us discover our inner world and describe our feelings.
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
My journey to the photo walks
Photography became an intense part of my life in 2007, and it filled my days almost completely for a long time. In 2013 the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) awarded me the Artiste FIAP distinction, then in 2021 I qualified as a life coach to complement my skills. I have been working with people for many years; as a tour operator, tour guide and divemaster I have had the privilege to learn about many different life stories. For some time now I have also been working as a tour manager, photographer and coach, and these jobs have also taught me about our many diversities.
Through photography courses, schools, workshops and travels, I noticed that the photographs we take always reveal something about us. As I began to get to know fellow travellers and photographers, I became more and more interested in the content underlying their images, what inspired their creator, and what kind of imagery they were capturing. Our experiences, our emotions, our moods and a number of different circumstances influence our particular vision and shape our personality.
Combining visual expression with the thoughts and feelings expressed in these conversations creates an opportunity to help elicit problems and find solutions, as well as to provide telling and visually perceptible feedback on the process of achieving change.
My mission
Photos are a kind of self-confession, projections of our souls. The world means different things to different people; just like a poet’s lines, photographs evoke different emotions depending on our frame of mind at a given moment. If they are explained by the person who took them, who expresses the thoughts that led to their creation, then their concept, complemented by the visual representation, turns into a mirror image of sorts.
I seek to guide people walking with me through the process of taking photographs into an intriguing visual world that helps them explore themselves and shows how their own photographs speak to them.
Andrea Pető
photographer, Artiste FIAP, life coach
http://www.andreapeto.hu
