- il y a 6 jours
Magdalena Martin explains how, after Stockholm, she decided in 2012 to buy a one-way ticket and move to Paris. She looks back on the shift from her former life as an entrepreneur to building a career as a photographer, navigating practical hurdles, Montmartre, and a lasting fascination with the city’s beauty and history.
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Art et designTranscription
00:00:00Magdalena we met thanks to a friend of ours her name is Chloe and we can say hi to her big hugs
00:00:06to Chloe yeah hi Chloe hi Chloe thanks for the connection I think it's really cool that we met
00:00:14and we met in a great atmosphere at your place yeah and here we are at your place again
00:00:19I think Magdalena what's cool is that you are someone with many many different adventures
00:00:31that you're going to be able to tell us about but first of all I have a question for you that's
00:00:36at the same time simple and complex Magdalena who are you oh okay so my name is Magdalena I'm from
00:00:44Stockholm in Sweden I'm 52 years old and I work as a professional photographer here in Paris
00:00:52good at 40 then you decided to move from Sweden to Paris yeah so this is not Emily in Paris but this
00:01:02is Magdalena in Paris can you tell us the story of you coming from Sweden and arriving in Paris I mean
00:01:08what happened how did you know that you had to move well I didn't but when I was I used to be
00:01:15married someone divorcee and me and my ex-husband we divorced in what was it to 2010 I think it was
00:01:25so it's a while ago and I used to live in Stockholm where I'm born and capital of Sweden yeah capital
00:01:33of Sweden exactly and in Sweden in Stockholm I had an interior company as a web shop and also as a
00:01:39physical butique in a part of Stockholm that you call Vasastan it's a really nice it's kind of a
00:01:46mixture of mom art and nine the atmosphere of the of the name yeah yeah where I used to live in
00:01:53Stockholm you can say so I had an interior butique there that called parkourier because I opened as a
00:02:00web shop to send packages and I used I used to travel a lot to Paris because I bought my interior
00:02:07from the big interior fairs in Paris the mes objets that you have two times a year here in Paris so I
00:02:16traveled here to Paris and I fell in love with the city and also me and my ex-husband we were here
00:02:20also 20 years ago too so I just fell in love with the city and my cousin Malin who who works as
00:02:28Metro de Ballet at the Opera Garnier or she used to do so it was very easy for me to come to Paris and
00:02:35visit several times a year and after my divorce in 2010 and running an interior butique it was it's
00:02:44tough you know it's a dream for many to have your own company and a butique like that because you run
00:02:51the business right it was yours yes it was my business and you open the shop every day
00:02:56you have to be there every day and then you have to take have to take care of the web shop
00:03:01in the night to send the packages all over the country or even abroad sometimes so it was you know
00:03:07it was it was long hours every day and it was only me so I was my own I was alone yeah so it was
00:03:14uh it was a lot of work to do a lot I guess and also traveling because you had to buy some design
00:03:22yeah interiors and design objects for your customers and that was the fun part that was a fun part but
00:03:29you have to keep updated all the time exactly up to date keep the peace and it costs a lot of money
00:03:34because you have to pay the rent for the local and then you have to have the the fancy bags so people
00:03:39can walk out from your shop and make commercial for you you have to pay ads in the interior magazine
00:03:45uh and then of course have make a living for yourself so it's a lot and of course the main
00:03:53thing to buy a lot of beautiful interior things to sell in your boutique because you want to attract
00:03:58the clients so it was actually it uh economically it's it's tough to have an interior shop and I uh I
00:04:06salute and chapeau to everyone who's doing that I will never do it again but I'm very very happy I
00:04:12did it I guess you learned a lot and also was it the beginning for you of your artistic uh life
00:04:18uh because I think it has something to do with aesthetics beauty uh design arts is it something you
00:04:25had in you before or when where did it start yeah on my mother's side in my family everyone
00:04:31um is or were an artist painters architects uh uh not much not so much writers but everything that
00:04:39has to do with with uh creativity and uh visual creativity it can be ceramic or or yeah everything
00:04:50that has to do with painting so my grandpa he was uh he actually he was in paris in the 1920s with my
00:04:56grandma oh really yeah they were here studying art in the 1920s did they say for a long time um oh
00:05:03yeah a year I think a year I think and they were here in Montmartre and also at in Montparnasse
00:05:08and they were studying for a very famous swedish um painter uh I will come back to that name because
00:05:16I don't remember now but Grünvald or something I can look it up yeah and uh the story goes actually
00:05:22my grandparents got married in Paris but no one in the family has any proof or picture of it so I
00:05:28don't know if that's a true story but that we know that they were here I actually have a painting on the
00:05:33wall that my grandpa did at Plaspegala I love that yeah I love that picture on the wall I mean I must
00:05:41say that your house is just crazy I mean I can tell that you know you add an interior boutique for sure
00:05:47you can come home and help me decorate thank you thank you so much I love that I love that
00:05:54you still like that yes I do yes I do I do love interior and to renovate and to find beautiful
00:06:00things and uh yeah it's a part of my passion it is it is and coming back to Paris so I understood
00:06:06that your family went there and maybe your uh grandpa got married there yeah so maybe that's not
00:06:12completely uh let's say um just by any chance that you uh appear to be in Paris again I think you know
00:06:20so many people romanticize about Paris with all respect because it's it's beautiful especially
00:06:26for us who are not born here if you're born and if you're a true Parisian or a French I can
00:06:32totally understand you don't see it the same way as we foreigners does but uh I see the beauty in it
00:06:39and I think the lifestyle also and all the architecture and the history it's Paris is an
00:06:45amazing city for that I I actually dreamt about going to Paris before I went so when I was young
00:06:50so but it took me until I was maybe 30 until I was here the first time um and then I decided to move
00:06:59here uh 2012 I made the decision now I'm I'm gonna buy a one-way ticket to Paris so it was a one-way
00:07:08ticket yeah so really you thought that you may stay there quite long yeah because I felt you know
00:07:14that it was hard to to run an interior store and I felt that I need to do something else after the
00:07:18divorce two years after the divorce and it was tough to run a interior boutique so I need to do
00:07:26something else and I was so happy every time I visit Paris I landed at Charles de Gaulle with a smile
00:07:30and then I left back to Stockholm and kind of oh I have to go back to Sweden
00:07:35so I really loved Paris before I moved here and I it was my cousin who lived here for 11 years
00:07:41back then she said why don't you move here and I said yeah why don't I except I don't I don't speak
00:07:49French I don't have a job I don't have any money but still you made a decision and that's the important
00:07:54step yeah when you arrived uh what were your first uh impression well because I knew Paris quite well
00:08:04at least what I thought back then in 12 years ago uh because I've been here so many times uh so for me
00:08:12it was like finally I'm coming home it was kind of that feeling but it was also uh you know it was a
00:08:19weird feeling it was like a big adventure when you know you're buying a one-way ticket and I moved here
00:08:24with my dog so it was me and my dog who moved here and um so not completely alone but still you
00:08:31had my dog with me so that was that was good I had someone to cuddle with
00:08:35and so then you arrive as a newcomer even if you know your cousin yeah so what kind of obstacles or
00:08:44challenges did you have to overcome when you first arrived oh the language yeah and the paperwork
00:08:49yeah the paperwork in France and also you told me about you know the renting in Paris that's crazy
00:08:57I mean what happened like how did you find uh an apartment to rent um what about a job like you had
00:09:04to you know yeah kind of start everything again so you know what happened what opportunity did you get
00:09:10well I was maybe a little bit lucky but also when I moved here I was 40 so I had lived a little bit
00:09:16of life before I was not 20 um but I was lucky that I had a friend who used to be a dancer professional
00:09:22dancer at the Moulin Rouge and she had connections of course in Montmartre and Paris so after I started
00:09:28to look first I started to look by myself to different agency you find an internet and I I realized it was
00:09:35tricky to find a poppin in Paris when you don't have a job you don't speak French you don't have the
00:09:39bank connection all that so I asked her do you still have connections in Paris for an apartment
00:09:46and then she said wait a few weeks I get back to you and she did and through my connections uh
00:09:54actually my first apartment in Paris was through the Moulin Rouge that's a nice one right so you
00:10:00actually just uh went right down to the Montmartre neighborhood yeah because I was not looking
00:10:08specific for Montmartre but I'm so happy I ended up here because I couldn't see myself living anywhere
00:10:13else in Paris unless I would have a fortune to have a rooftop at Ilicity or something like that but
00:10:18no to be a realistic Montmartre is the perfect place for me uh the thing was is actually exactly
00:10:25now in a few days 12 years ago uh I got that phone call okay we maybe have a studio for you
00:10:33in Montmartre but you need to come to Paris this week and you were in Sweden and I was in Stockholm
00:10:38at that time okay yeah and it's available now and you have to say yes or no kind of direct
00:10:43and I said I need to see the apartment first and I have to sell my company first because I can't move
00:10:47to Paris without selling my boutique yeah because you were still strings attached there so the company
00:10:53I can't just lock the door and go I have the company to to finish before I have to finish my
00:10:59business in in Sweden before I moved to Paris and were you certain at the time that you had to move
00:11:04or did you hesitate no I I made my decision in April 2012 and then it was kind of a nine month
00:11:11journey to make everything organized first of all to sell my company and that took time
00:11:16uh so when I got this call in you know late October we may be having an apartment for you I said okay
00:11:24and I have to say yes or no now and oh la la so it was a big decision but I jumped on the first
00:11:29plane to Paris and I visited this apartment a cute one on the set the amittage close to
00:11:37behind momart it was thank god it was a lift to the sixth floor and then you just walked the last
00:11:43floor up and I had a view I saw Eiffel Tower and you saw the Sacre Coeur OC so you were lucky because
00:11:49you do not always have elevators no you don't and I've seen I've seen many apartments during my years
00:11:55in Paris so yeah I know a lift is not so common here yeah even if they're like seven or eight
00:12:01yeah but for the view hula so I was so happy when I saw that it was maybe 24 square meters small small
00:12:08in in Paris world is kind of a normal size 24 square meter I loved it and I had to say yes or no I said okay
00:12:15can I can I get a week at least I need to think I need to organize my brain so but I said yes finally
00:12:22and then it was then I had to hurry up to organize things figure it out to figure it out to sell my
00:12:30company in Stockholm because I said yes so I started to pay for the apartment in Paris before I sold
00:12:34my company in Stockholm so somehow like you you took some risks a big risk a huge risk because if I
00:12:43didn't manage to sell my company I couldn't move to Paris so I had but it was but it's it was kind
00:12:49of the French way you know you need to have a bank contract before you can get an apartment
00:12:53we can't get an apartment before you have a bank contract so I was kind of already living the French
00:12:58situation but I just had to sell my company in Stockholm to move to Paris so it was kind of a similar
00:13:04moment 22. You were involved in two different things and you had to figure things out the right way
00:13:10yeah yeah and how after how much time do you know that you made the right decision like is it right
00:13:16away or did you have some doubts um how did how did you feel after some weeks you know in Paris when
00:13:24you had your apartment I will never forget the first night the Opel a bottle of red wine of course
00:13:30sat down on the sofa in the new in my new home in Paris lights on candles looked at my dog and just
00:13:37said to myself this is so crazy I'm not leaving I'm staying this is not for one week this is not
00:13:42for two weeks this is for I don't know how long so the first evening I was I felt great and then
00:13:49reality hits you you know I think the second night I had nightmares I think I dreamt I still have
00:13:57the picture in my head or the nightmare I had it was a kind of a Hollywood cast catastrophe movie
00:14:02when you know a big atom bomb or aliens come and tsunami waves and Paris got destroyed and the
00:14:09Eiffel Tower I you know it was such a crazy dream I think because of the stress you didn't know the
00:14:14mental stress yeah and of course I was worried the first first week how I'm gonna make this happen
00:14:22because only I came to Paris with only 2 000 euros in my pocket that's it that's a crazy story that's
00:14:29crazy when you're 40 years old and you don't speak French so it was a tough beginning it was a tough
00:14:34start but I think maybe it's a little bit of depends on your personality and who you are
00:14:41and also because you have lived a little so maybe maybe normally you do that these kind of things when
00:14:48you're 20 you're young you don't know what can go wrong and you're unconscious somehow yeah yeah but
00:14:53in some way I still thought that when I was 40 but today when I look behind I would have still done
00:15:00the same thing I don't regret this decision ever it's the best decision I ever made but I was still
00:15:08kind of thinking that I was crazy that was crazy but was it in your guts like did you know you had to
00:15:12do it or you know that's also how do you know you have to start over in another country like did you
00:15:18have to move to really start over did you want to start over did you want to start from scratch
00:15:23or was just just I need some fresh air I mean what was it about I think it was about you know after
00:15:29the divorce it it kind of it kind of make me very sad for a long time it hit me bad
00:15:36uh and also at the same time I noticed that my business wasn't going so well and I felt I need
00:15:42to do something else and I Stockholm got smaller and smaller for me and uh I felt like I was kind
00:15:48of finished with my hometown and home country I wanted to do something else and Paris always made
00:15:54me happy every time I came here I was I felt free I felt much more happier comfort with my life I
00:16:02really enjoy being in Paris so when when I got the idea that why not move to Paris even if that's so
00:16:12crazy to do when you're 40 and I didn't know so much of what I should know um and you left everything
00:16:21behind everything behind like your home your company your friends it was like what can possible go wrong
00:16:27like yeah everything but I say but if I don't try it I will never know and I think I I told myself I
00:16:35will always regret if I didn't make it uh make it a go I try I need to try I need to see because I had
00:16:42nothing else to lose so I just I had to push myself I want to start not a new chapter in my life I want to
00:16:48start a new book so that's how I felt and I couldn't wait for me it was just a countdown well I knew when I
00:16:56booked a ticket the train ticket to to Paris and I I signed out to to read French grammar at the
00:17:02Sorbonne and you know it was just a countdown for me to I just need to go but it was a short
00:17:07countdown countdown from from the decision you felt urgency yeah I just want to leave I just want to
00:17:13leave I just want to go to Paris did you think that you were looking for something when you left
00:17:18a new life a new life a new story a new adventure that you had to create on your own yeah I mean for
00:17:27some people maybe a one-year trip is it adventure enough they go around the world or they go to
00:17:33Australia or they they do something for six months or maybe one year but for me I really had it in my
00:17:39head all the time this is for life all my friends in Stockholm of course thought I will I will be back in
00:17:45one to three months they cannot when she's coming back they're asking my closest friend and my closest
00:17:50friend Jessica she she knew I was going and she was for sure like for a long time she understood me
00:17:56she understood me very well and she knew you also yeah she knew that you were not telling she
00:18:01I was not I was not kidding so she she understood she was just laughing to my other friends
00:18:06don't you understand she will never come back and 12 years later I'm still here and I will I will not
00:18:12come back so she was right she was right and I was right too um I have a question because I think
00:18:18that you are a brave person with lots of energy we can feel your personality um and you know my
00:18:25my question because this podcast is all about transformation and about you know how you go
00:18:29through a crisis you know if it's personal professional I mean um and and I'm wondering you
00:18:35know do you think that moving from one place to another uh if it is you know expatriation relocation
00:18:41or movement in general it doesn't have to uh mean move to another country but do you think that
00:18:46you know moving is part of a healing process or a growth process you know I mean what was beneficial
00:18:52for you in moving out yeah sure yeah of course of course I think it's uh I think you you you get so
00:18:59much stronger by new experience and especially if you if you move into a new country and get part of
00:19:04the daily life in a new country in a new city uh it you grow as a as a person as a human because you
00:19:13also see the distance to your own home country you you see the nuances of how different people are in
00:19:20different countries and I of course I look at I look at my friends and and in and Swedes in a different
00:19:25way now because I'm looking from the outside so it's kind of fun to see the the difference because
00:19:31it is a lot of differences between us and I I think the the reason I I feel so home in Paris and
00:19:39France is because I I feel more home with your culture than my own do you have examples uh concrete
00:19:45examples of the differences and uh what makes you feel more Parisian than you know Swedish uh I feel
00:19:53more free here uh you have uh easier social freer life with people the the the daily life is not so
00:20:03strict okay I understand when you have to go to work and all that and if you have kids I don't
00:20:07uh but in Sweden it's so uh it's so strict you know it's timed yeah yeah you you really go to work
00:20:14Monday to Friday eight to five and then you you pick up the kids from school and then they do all the
00:20:20things and you eat dinner and you never drink alcohol on a Tuesday and if you do you're an
00:20:24alcoholic but on the other hand then on Friday and Saturday the Swedes go bananas uh and you always
00:20:31have to be very prop and uh work out a lot and green is I can be judgmental I do it really rough now
00:20:38and also Swedes are very kind of we we are kind of uh introvert a little bit so uh we don't say
00:20:47bonjour to everyone like you do here in France uh we kind of before we open our door we we look
00:20:53outside somewhere there because we we if we can avoid to meet the neighbors we do
00:20:57and we don't say hello to everyone in the soup in the in the boulangerie or in the coffee shop we
00:21:03don't we we keep we stick to our little bubble and keep to ourself a lot and uh there are more
00:21:10boundaries yeah in social life yeah and yeah I feel it's so much easier to get to know
00:21:15French people even if I don't speak French uh I don't know I have my ways to do it I don't
00:21:21know you you get a long way with a smile and you're an artist also and I think you are in the
00:21:25Montmartre neighborhood yeah where people you know like uh meeting new yeah uh persons uh for
00:21:32inspiration or just for conversation so and also in Paris we have the terraces you know where you can
00:21:37just grab coffee and meet people so yeah I I'm very easy going I'm very social I'm not afraid to
00:21:44start conversation or at least try or if people start talking to me I'm happy to talk back so so
00:21:50I I I enjoy life a lot and take every opportunity to to get to know new people I will never jump on
00:21:57anyone please get to know me but if someone is opening the door I'm I'm happy to to respond so
00:22:04and you think that being Swedish in you know in France uh also helps people to uh be more interested
00:22:10in you because of course if you meet just another French person you're like okay boring you know
00:22:14a little bit a little bit I always get positive reactions if I'm saying I'm from Sweden you can
00:22:20you always get a smile from a friend oh and people want to know you know yeah they know if they know
00:22:25Stockholm or not or been to Malmö or Gothenburg or they or maybe met a Swede before or know someone
00:22:31I always get positive reaction from the French people no matter where in France I am but of course
00:22:36Paris then uh so always positive from the French the Parisian and do you think that also you know
00:22:42uh being a stranger let's say in a city also helps you to let's say go beyond your own boundaries like
00:22:49something you would not do in a country you know that you already know because it pushes you also to
00:22:54be outside your comfort zone when you are in a country where in any case you do not know the language
00:22:59it's not where you've lived or your life so it pushes you you know to to go out to meet new people
00:23:05and maybe that's something you would not have done if you had stayed in Sweden that's very true
00:23:09but I also that's also a reason some people maybe are not made to move to to France or Paris if they
00:23:14don't speak French or or willing to learn because if they are introvert they're going to have a tough
00:23:20time in Paris they're not going to meet people they're not going to meet friends and I think
00:23:23to survive in a in a big city as Paris you need to have a little social life you really do because
00:23:29otherwise you're going to get very lonely so it's important to have a little bit of social network
00:23:34and so either you are a personality similar as mine that easy to get to know people or you have
00:23:41to push yourself to to to get a social a little social network at least that helps so you need to
00:23:47push yourself of course especially when you don't speak French it's tough and how do you do that okay
00:23:53so you have a great personality like going out like you do some art yeah so also it helps but come on
00:23:59give us some tips like someone who would just be in Paris because I've been hearing many students
00:24:04or people coming there and saying it's tough to meet people because you know sometimes Parisians
00:24:08they're kind of they're not mean but they're in their life yeah they are in a totally crazy rhythm
00:24:15and they don't take the time very often to answer people they like talking French too so how do you do
00:24:20that well you have to be over polite if the French way is to be polite which you are all you have to be
00:24:27over polite and you have to excuse yourself a lot and bring a smile with it and it always helps you
00:24:33know of course maybe have some I'm a woman I'm blonda from Sweden I don't know
00:24:37a little bit maybe so yeah it helps but you just have to insist and ask for help don't be afraid to ask
00:24:50for help because actually if the French are very generous to help you if you if you're just trying
00:24:54to do it in in there in in your way you know you you really are polite and and happy so yeah if you
00:25:02can show a bit of vulnerability I think people are always happy to help right I give compliments
00:25:07because if I say to a French your English is better than my French it opens a little bit more because I
00:25:12can understand why the French are maybe uncomfortable to speak English even if that's changed a lot
00:25:17it's a generation thing also and which part of France you are in in Paris it's much easier today
00:25:24to to survive with English except when you maybe go into the bank and a lot of paperwork that's a
00:25:29struggle still of course I get help so but you can overcome it if you if you just push yourself
00:25:37yeah I get that so would you advise and people going through I don't know a crisis or people
00:25:43who want change to leave home and to travel I don't know if I would advise it but I say why
00:25:50not it it might not be for you but it was for me so I think it depends but for me uh I was finished
00:25:59healing my divorce when I moved here I was finished for that but when I moved to Paris it's just you know
00:26:05I felt when I landed uh no I didn't fly here when I moved here I took the train uh but when I
00:26:11yeah yeah it was 28 hours from Stockholm eight hours no 28 events yeah it should take 23 hours
00:26:20but it was snowing in Germany so the train was delayed and finally 28 hours later you wanted to
00:26:27go to Paris very bad right and it was okay because it was a one-way ticket so I was yeah you could you
00:26:32could take some time and I had my dog I had good company um uh what was the question but yes it was
00:26:39uh would you advise people to go um you know to travel and you said for me the healing process you
00:26:45know so yeah took you yeah maybe because if you feel like you need to start all over again because
00:26:51you want something happen in your life why not because to to live in your old routines and maybe in
00:26:58the same town depends how big your town is of course I'm from Stockholm so that's a big town but
00:27:05if you live in a smaller village or something like that so maybe a a drastic movement can change your
00:27:13life to the better but you also have to be aware that it's going to be tough of course especially if
00:27:19you move to a country where you don't speak the language or don't have a job and an income it's a lot
00:27:24of walls you have to to get over uh before and nothing is for sure that you will stay so but for
00:27:32me it's the best decision I ever made so it worked for me it worked for you too so that's great and um
00:27:41so for you it was about changing and starting from scratch or would you say something else it was
00:27:46discovering who you were no or I was kind of pretty sure who I was and you know I was 40 and
00:27:55I think I just wanted to do something totally different I was bored of my life in in Stockholm
00:28:03and Sweden it was not enough I needed to do something else and your heart was being called
00:28:08by Paris yes it was Paris was calling to me for sure what is uh the most unexpected lesson that
00:28:16Paris has told you about yourself good question um
00:28:22something you did not expect or a surprise in positive or negative way
00:28:33I feel I only live kind of positive things since I moved here it's been a challenge for sure
00:28:41but I can't say any negative things the only my biggest problem in Paris and France is the language
00:28:47problem for me of course for some reason you know uh it's it's it's harder to um uh to learn a third
00:28:55language when you're 40 and it doesn't get any better when the older I get uh because I don't have time
00:29:02to study and study grammar and words and words and words every day I need to make money to live and
00:29:07survive and pay my bills so that's that's a struggle and maybe uh so that's I'm kind of disappointed on
00:29:14over myself the negative part is I thought I would speak French by now so that might be the the the
00:29:22negative thing that uh of myself that I didn't manage to to overcome that part and easier to speak
00:29:29French so that otherwise everything else is positive yeah that's also great thing and we'll
00:29:33come to that uh in a minute for sure um so how do you know and when did you know that moving out was
00:29:40a good decision you know and it was not let's say a way to escape or run away from yourself because
00:29:45also sometimes I guess that can be the hesitation or the doubt you know am I moving for the right
00:29:49reasons is it you know just um going away or is it more like starting over like how did you know
00:29:56um that you had made the right shows like right away or did it take some time you told me about
00:30:02this healing process that took some time so how do you know when do you know well I was a happy
00:30:08single when I moved here to Paris but it didn't take so long to meet a Frenchman
00:30:12um so uh maybe um after I met my current boyfriend uh I realized that it's a good place to be
00:30:23and uh my life started to come in you know I have a home and see some future plans and
00:30:32things like that yeah maybe uh and when I started to get uh clients for my photography work and
00:30:39things just started to to uh I mean this puzzle pieces just all came together yeah they did they
00:30:48did but I guess also you were in the right state of mind yeah I think so because otherwise it doesn't
00:30:53work that's true uh you know it's a positive boomerang or a negative boomerang and if you
00:30:59throw it they come back good for you and it can be the same with negative things and for me I
00:31:03I always try to embrace life and take the positive opportunities and you know for me the the glass
00:31:10is always half full it's never half empty I can hear that unless it's wine then it's always half
00:31:16empty give me more but yeah good one I think it's good to see the positive side of life you only live
00:31:23once so make the best of it yeah we can see and we can feel that you adopted Paris yeah I think
00:31:30Paris adopted me the other way around I think so yeah yeah what do you love most about Paris
00:31:36oh uh the beauty of it the architect and history uh it always amazes me still when I go outside I
00:31:45kind of wow I'm living here because I think it's so beautiful I see truth I don't see the pobell I
00:31:51don't see the traffic I don't hear the noise I oh what I do but you know I try to see the beauty of
00:31:57it as I see past but that's also my job as a photographer I try or the kind of photographer
00:32:04I am anyway I try to see the beauty of everything and it's really a remarkable beautiful capital is
00:32:11amazing so it inspires you yeah because you're an artist and we're gonna talk about it more in a
00:32:17minute so that's what you like and something that you hate because come on I mean you need to uh
00:32:23well that would be the traffic traffic the traffic yeah I think you're not the only one to say that
00:32:29I'm gonna get killed by bicycles every day across the street
00:32:34um do you miss Sweden still not really I don't sorry Sweden if you're listening
00:32:42uh no I I don't I love my home country of course I love my hometown Stockholm of course but I don't
00:32:50miss it I really don't and I I will never move back it I don't want to live there but I love to
00:32:57visit maybe once a year to say hi to family and friends prefer preferable in the summertime but
00:33:05usually I go in the end of March when it's my mom's birthday so it's not so nice weather that
00:33:11period sadly so it's a bad timing but um for me no I I can miss Swedish food sometime okay what do you
00:33:18eat there actually uh what's your favorite dish from there oh the Christmas food really yeah what
00:33:26we do for Christmas in Sweden is really yummy do you cook I know you do but I'm gonna ask for the
00:33:31people yeah I love to cook I really do I think it's super fun it's my it's my kind of relaxation
00:33:37in the evening to to cook I said I'll send my boyfriend to the tv and I'll stand in the kitchen
00:33:42but leave the kitchen take a glass of wine do some cooking take my time and what do you do like do you
00:33:49do some uh a combination of French food and uh Swedish food or anything anything French food
00:33:57Swedish food Asian food whatever I feel for and uh if if I don't if I don't create something myself I
00:34:04usually uh tonight I'm feeling for Asian and then I compare three three recipes of the same thing and
00:34:11I'll do my own combination of it no I I really like to to cook with fresh ingredients and uh and you
00:34:17leave a pair you have everything around the corner to buy so good products so so it's really nice I love to
00:34:23cook I like like to take the time to do that um so I understand that you have no regrets um and I
00:34:31guess that your life would have been so different if you're not moved right so personal but also
00:34:35professional uh because uh as uh you said you're an artist you're a photographer so I think we're
00:34:41going to come to that uh because I want also people to better understand how Paris did inspire your art
00:34:47and also what art means to you because I always love talking with artists especially when they live in
00:34:53Montmartre you know they're in the middle of such uh of everything you know everything um but first I
00:34:59mean if you could send a photograph of Paris to your past self before moving to the city uh what image
00:35:06would it be I'm taking hundreds of thousands of photos of Paris with or without people in the picture
00:35:14it's really I don't know if I can choose one I would choose so many uh
00:35:20for sure I would I would choose picture of the view over the city when you see all the rooftops and
00:35:28facades I would send a picture of me having fun with friends drinking wine in Montmartre or a picnic
00:35:36uh at zen uh so maybe I I a great postcard with a great view the rooftops uh and a picture of me
00:35:46having fun so it will be two big pictures yeah okay that that works that works yeah do you take
00:35:52photographs every day how how does it work uh yeah well as I I work as a photographer so of course I I
00:36:00don't take picture every day yeah with my iPhone I take every day something can be my food what I'm
00:36:05cooking or I saw something nice in a window but not artistic photographs I know uh when I have
00:36:11clients of course when they book me for a photo shoot or when I feel creative I haven't been creative
00:36:16for a while I need to go out and photo shoot something or the weather or the sunset or the
00:36:20sunrise or now it's autumn you want to photo shoot some autumn picture maybe or if I just get a creative
00:36:26idea so how does it come this creativity like is it all of a sudden something that you feel inside
00:36:33you or is it someone inspiring you or something when I've done too many clients who ask for a
00:36:40specific picture that you know for me it's routine to do them and I feel like it was a long time ago I
00:36:46did something more for me what I want to do and I need to do something creative then either I just get
00:36:53an idea from my head or I just push myself to I need to photo shoot something I haven't done for a long
00:36:58time I do love to photo shoot dancers it's a passion for me so uh but people do book me for
00:37:05that too so it's it's it's I get paid I get paid to book photo shoot dancers but sometimes maybe it's a
00:37:12different kind of dance I want to photo shoot so or more professional so it depends or I like to
00:37:19photo shoot vintage things so they get the vintage spirit in picture so even if we live in 2024 soon
00:37:2625 I want to make it look like it's the 1920s so what's your favorite period do you have a favorite
00:37:35one I don't know but if I could time travel I will go back to the 20s 1920s I think why because there
00:37:43were so many great artists living then yeah I would have loved that and also it was a great period in
00:37:49in the Parisian life I think it was after the first world war and before the second I think it was a
00:37:55great time in Paris in the in the 20s and early 30s I would have loved to just snook around and
00:38:02hanging hanging in a bar with people and hear their stories and live their lives that would have been
00:38:08from this after war atmosphere yeah people were happy with the you know termination of the war
00:38:15yeah and also trying to I think it was a great yeah I think it was a great period in Paris for
00:38:21for many reasons uh of course it was tough too but if I could time travel to Paris 1920s would be the
00:38:28time yeah sure um what are the themes and the subject matters of your art you told us about vintage
00:38:37dancers um do you have other uh specifics in your art hmm I don't know how to describe I've
00:38:47photoshopped many different things for many years I've been a wedding photographer because they pays
00:38:52the bills so that's good and that's experience right anyway yeah yeah and it has been fun it has
00:39:01been real fun I met so many love couples in my in my years in Paris and it's the great city
00:39:06for it too um but no I think you know for me still the Paris is like uh I'm living in a movie set
00:39:14uh more or less it's never boring to bring your camera out I always find something to photo shoot
00:39:19maybe I I would like to photo shoot more documentary things more projects so we'll see I understand it's
00:39:28urban life um it's uh Paris a lot yeah um and also um um do you do uh black and white colors do you have
00:39:38a style how would you define what you like to do and what impressions uh you want to make on the
00:39:45the persons that look at your photographs I think I have a style but I don't know how to describe it
00:39:52I know it's her right it's super hard I think people who who know who knows me and see my picture
00:39:58yeah what do you tell you I think they can say that's Magdalena style when they see it again or
00:40:04because sometimes I get the messenger is this your picture because they see something that looks like
00:40:10my style because sometimes when people see that someone is using your picture without uh credit or
00:40:16something like that and I can see what they mean I do have a style but it's really but yeah I do I do
00:40:22a lot of black and white uh also brilliant colors yeah I do brilliant colors too because I always
00:40:28photo shooting colors and then I edit in black and white but it really depends on on on what I'm
00:40:34photo shooting if it's urban picture of the of the city or maybe I use more than I used to color
00:40:40but if I photo shooting one of my models girls I'm shooting uh I prefer to edit in black and white
00:40:47it can be typical you know a Parisian woman sitting in a cafe with a cigarette and a glass of wine
00:40:53with a big black hat or or sensual pictures romantic with an urban touch but also I think it's a
00:41:01vintage I'm inspired by the movies from the 40s so think a little bit uh Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey
00:41:08that kind of movies inspires me Casablanca that kind of black and white movies from the 40s inspire
00:41:18me in my editing I think yeah that's interesting also uh you are working with models uh very much
00:41:26of the time so how do you do that because I guess that you need uh to create trust sometimes you do it
00:41:31with professional dancers but they are not models so how do you work like um do you have to train them
00:41:38but for me to photo shoot professional dancer they are models in my world because they know how to
00:41:44move from a to z so that's it you know I'm just I'm just photo shooting their passion with my passion
00:41:50so it's a great marriage for me that's your favorite yeah that's my favorite uh and also if I have some
00:41:57friends that are used or know me uh we can we can create really nice pictures too so I I don't
00:42:03really use professional models uh but that could be very beautiful uh women I know instead uh and
00:42:11then it's professional dancers so that's a little bit of both so it's more artists yeah uh because
00:42:17what you like also it's not just a beauty but let's say art and their passion exactly because when
00:42:23you photo shoot them it's not just the beauty of the body it's also the way they move exactly it's
00:42:29all about their art and dancing right exactly yeah yeah and so how do you photograph movement
00:42:34because there are dancers so how do you do that they move quicker especially yeah they do well it's
00:42:42a lot of uh yeah it's the technique settings of a camera so where you have to photo shoot in in
00:42:48in um high um shutter speed and adapt with the iso and that the um this is shutter speed
00:42:58me and the technique anyway I know this that is for my camera so it's it's a part that you have to
00:43:04adjust when you photo shooting something that moves quickly but I understand that then it's very
00:43:09technical also yeah a little bit of technical of course you need to know you need to know the
00:43:13camera settings of course but for me the biggest combination is the backdrops for me the backdrop
00:43:19is as important for me as the one the person I'm shooting so I always try to combine what I'm
00:43:27shooting and look for the best backdrop for it because I always photo shooting outside and never
00:43:32in studios yes so also that's a difficult part because how do you do because you are not you cannot
00:43:38control the whole environment you're shooting in so how do you do that like do you go um do you go
00:43:45before to investigate what's the best color what's do you know the city very well or well enough to know
00:43:51exactly what would be the best time of the day or night to do that do you prepare the settings or
00:43:57I know the city very well and I have a photographic memory I wish I had that for language but I don't
00:44:03but I have a photographic memory for locations so I know the city well and of course to avoid tourists
00:44:10and a lot of people in the picture always shoot at sunrise so it's early mornings always more or less
00:44:17depending sometimes you want to have an evening ambiance but more or less always very early morning
00:44:22so it's up early
00:44:23um and then how did Paris influence your work because I understood that you began shooting in
00:44:32Paris so it all started here um do you think it comes from the city or is something you hide inside
00:44:39and you let yourself the freedom to to try in Paris or how how did it happen in Paris the fact that you
00:44:47became an artist and a photograph I was actually photo shooting before I moved here so okay yeah
00:44:52uh and it's always been an interest but I'm self-taught uh so I always have been interested to
00:44:59photo shoot I did a little mini course when I was 20 uh you know with the analog camera when you are in
00:45:06a dark room and do your pictures so um but then of course always when you're tourists when you're
00:45:13traveling you photo shoot and before I moved to Paris uh when I was here so much I did photo shoot a lot
00:45:21of Paris picture and sold them as prints in my own interior boutique in Stockholm and to other print
00:45:27shops in in Europe so when I moved to Paris I was just developing what I already started
00:45:33uh a few years before with Paris picture so I developed that and when I moved here I built a new web
00:45:42website uh and marketing myself as a wedding photographer a lot because I needed clients
00:45:49okay and you knew that's what you wanted to do for a living well that was the only living I could think
00:45:56of to happen quick because because I didn't speak French and I needed to to have an income so I thought
00:46:03that doing wedding photography or love couples in Paris would be the best or the only possible
00:46:10start for me to do to do it quick because you knew how to photograph um of course you would have some
00:46:16tourists so you could speak English yeah exactly so I had the camera I had the computer I have the
00:46:21software to to do everything I had everything I needed to to make that happen I just needed clients so
00:46:27so that was a natural way for me to go to to work myself up as an as a professional photographer in
00:46:33Paris and uh so yeah and it worked out well and now you do it um as an artist yeah um so um
00:46:44how do you capture the city in your photography like do you also do some just uh landscape from Paris
00:46:51yes a lot yeah for sure I've done it so so many times so I sometimes I feel I don't need to
00:46:58photo shoot Paris again because I have so many pictures from every around this amount on every
00:47:01angle but you always see something new you can help yeah yeah it's another lie today and that's
00:47:08another oh they done some different they cleaned the house or you can always see something new
00:47:13interesting to photo shoot in Paris that that's what the beauty of the of the town is it's so
00:47:17interesting I would love to do more street photography you know but you know you have
00:47:22your laws in France you can't just photo shoot anybody even if it's tempting you want to just
00:47:28be a paparazzi and photo shoot normal people doing their life but France has different laws than other
00:47:34countries so you have to be a little bit careful what you do with those pictures yeah it's true
00:47:38because you're not able to reproduce picture where you can see the people and they can be identified so
00:47:43also this is yeah legal in Sweden you can really yeah I didn't know that so you have different laws
00:47:50in different countries that you have to adjust to so even if I would like to do more street
00:47:55photography because it's kind of fun but I mean it's European Union anyway so how come that you can do
00:48:01that in Sweden um it's it's not the same rule like you can yeah much freer rules in Sweden for
00:48:07photography so it's not as tough as it is here uh I can I can I can understand where it comes from
00:48:16I think uh the the more street laws they have for privacy in France is because of the second world
00:48:23war and Sweden was not in that in Sweden you know you can just by looking at your registration number
00:48:32on your car I can go on the computer and know everything about you where you live if you're
00:48:37married if you have kids how many if you have a dog if you have a country place you get so much
00:48:44information in Sweden like an open book in France you can't yeah no that's not the same I'm quite
00:48:49surprised you're very private in France very very private in France and that goes also down to
00:48:54photography you can't just photo shoot any people on the street because they're they're private
00:48:58people so um I think that has to do with the world war ii goes back to that and then you haven't
00:49:05updated your laws and you know it's still you know how it used to be it's always going to be the same
00:49:10and can you feel that um this let's say um um the fact that French people they like uh remaining
00:49:18private about their life or they like this privacy oh I like I love it I prefer that it's not fun to be
00:49:26like an open book in Sweden it's kind of everyone can check what you're doing and you know where you
00:49:30live and then you can feel it I mean it's really a French thing yeah it's a very it's a very different
00:49:36it's a big it's a big difference between Sweden and France in that way and I I prefer it the French
00:49:42way why not you don't you today you're so social anyway on social media with Instagram and Facebook
00:49:48and TikTok and everything so can you please keep some privacy where you live or kind of a mystery
00:49:55yeah what car you're driving or if I have one or two dogs can I keep some privacy to myself
00:50:00because if I don't want to show that on social media maybe I can just keep it to myself but in
00:50:05Sweden you know everything I didn't know that actually I'm quite surprised I'm learning something
00:50:10I prefer the French way you can have some privacy here
00:50:13um did you meet artists in Paris that let's say change your life or your experiences your arts
00:50:21um any personal experience that that you can share that shaped your artistic transformation or your
00:50:28personal experience of Paris well first I must say the Moulin Rouge because it all not only did I get my
00:50:37first apartment thanks to people who works at Moulin Rouge uh yeah because your cousin knew someone
00:50:44working there and she had some connections the customer is another story I'm coming to uh but
00:50:49the Moulin Rouge was a friend of mine in Sweden and she used to be a dancer at the Moulin Rouge
00:50:54so through her connections with with uh with people at the Moulin Rouge I got my first apartment in
00:50:59Paris and that also opened the door to to my first photo shoot at Moulin Rouge the first year I was
00:51:05living here I asked can I come and photo shoot and I said yes so that was a great experience to to be
00:51:10behind the stage and behind the scenes and photo shoot the girls uh you know when they prepare
00:51:15when they're dressing the rehearsals and also the show after so that was a great experience and maybe
00:51:20wow this is my life I want to photo shoot dancers and show business I'm sure I was a jazz dancer in my
00:51:27former life or something I don't know I love the I love the ambiance of it for sure that's crazy that
00:51:33you happen to live in Montmartre yeah and to get uh renting from someone from the Moulin Rouge and
00:51:39that you get to photograph and shoot dancers there you have to take the opportunity that's what I say
00:51:43of course you have to ask if they work at Moulin Rouge hello can I come and photo shoot that's how
00:51:48I do I always take the opportunity don't be afraid to ask the only thing what the worst can happen
00:51:53they say no but you have to ask they're not going to ask you you have to ask them that's a great
00:51:59opportunity because sometimes you do not dare you're like okay I'm just nobody I don't speak
00:52:02French why would they hire me to do some photographs right yeah so sometimes that's your you are the one
00:52:08that just limiting yourself that's not the others that just you that I'm prepared to get to know but
00:52:14at least I can ask yeah that's the way I do it ask because you never know you have to dare to open
00:52:21doors because and I'm good at open doors because that you have to do that to move forward and the
00:52:27second opportunity for your question is also my cousin to come back to her uh she works as a
00:52:34professional metro de ballet for the she's a member of the Balanchine trust Balanchine is a great
00:52:40choreographer for big ballets he's dead now for a long time but she worked at uh she used to work as
00:52:47at the opera ganier sorry for my French pronunciations it's perfect uh she worked at the
00:52:54opera here in Paris for 11 years and I used before I lived in Paris I always came to Paris many times a
00:52:59year I slept on her sofa uh and when I started to photo shoot ballet dancers a little bit I asked her
00:53:07of course so what should I think of when I'm shooting ballet dancers and she correct you have to look for
00:53:13this position of the hands and the legs and the feet and the you know how because bad dancers
00:53:19doesn't matter what kind of dance they do but they are so picky and it's so important for them that the
00:53:25photographer catch the right angle for the hands and feet otherwise they can't show it because that
00:53:31is it would have ruined their career but they they don't want to show a picture where the hands the
00:53:36fingers and the feet are wrong and it's very important as you as a photographer have the understanding
00:53:41and the respect when you photo shoot dancers and don't show picture that the dancer wouldn't like
00:53:47herself or himself it's very interesting because actually they are very perfectionist where their
00:53:52body and their position so you also need to be careful to that because sometimes for you it would
00:53:56be perfect but for them it's like they know they are having the wrong position that they've been working
00:54:01for so many years and daily training is so much hard work going into dancers so you need to respect and
00:54:10understand that when you photo shoot them too so still it's it's um perfectionist I mean it's a
00:54:16when you do photograph for dancers it's something very specific yeah I can think a picture is beautiful
00:54:21but then no no no no the hand is wrong the feet is wrong I see it I can understand okay not that
00:54:28picture taking another one usually I'm good to see I'm good at seeing the picture that they will
00:54:33accept so usually I I know what they're looking for but sometimes they're so picky so it can be a
00:54:40little millimeter detail that is wrong so but now you have the expertise yeah what I think very funny
00:54:46also is that you've been able to photograph um moulin rouge dancers and also ballet yeah so I mean
00:54:52it's very different because of course I mean both I mean I think it's about looking for perfection
00:54:56and also uh sensuality and also a very uh let's say um strict position of the body but still it's
00:55:03very different right you have a world that's all about being sexy and one that's more about you know
00:55:09touching the sky so but the funny thing is uh almost every female dancer at the moulin rouge
00:55:16are trained classic ballet in the beginning okay so that's not that difference no because they always
00:55:23train ballet dancer in in the core uh the reason they end up in moulin rouge mostly is because they're
00:55:28very tall and in the ballet world it's really really hard to get a job because the company is not so many
00:55:35and when they choose the ballet dancer to a ballet company they they have a maximum height they can't
00:55:41be they can't be too tall so it's really hard for classic ballet ballet dancer to get you know a
00:55:47income in a contract in a job at a ballet company but they love dance so a lot of these girls they
00:55:54end up in show business instead in jazz dance or or cabarets and things like that but they always have
00:56:00a foundation in classic ballet okay so then it's it's quite close yeah at moulin rouge you need to
00:56:05be tall you need to be 174 centimeters minimum i think something like that or maybe even taller 176
00:56:13maybe okay then i'll never be in moulin rouge and in ballet you have to be short so so uh i think a lot
00:56:20of a lot of classical ballet dancers they end up in show business um but of course it's uh and i think
00:56:26when you start dancing as a uh as a young girl you you try so many different you do jazz you do
00:56:31contemporary you do ballet and then you see what you like ah sure in my last life i was a dancer or in
00:56:38my next life i will be one do you dance i love to dance so you did you do you dance now no only for fun
00:56:46you know with friends you know if it's good music in the kitchen but i i was a gymnastic when i was young
00:56:52so i did you did you a theater i did theater too when i was kid so already an artist yeah always done
00:56:59something creative crazy yeah what else do you do do you do other types of hearts you say i would love
00:57:05to paint um it's in my genes in my blood i think from my mother's side in the family but i haven't you
00:57:15know i haven't find out what i want to paint yet but hopefully i will someday so camera is my uh is my
00:57:25um is my first instrument yeah it's my it's my um pencil now so maybe paint is going to come later
00:57:33i still have a i like to have all the equipment for painting at home if you do already a bit
00:57:39it comes and goes but i wouldn't say no but i hope i will someday i want to find you know my way to
00:57:47paint and that we'll see maybe when i get older when i get tired of photo shooting yeah and i'm sure
00:57:53that paris would be source of inspiration too yeah um also you've been shooting quite recently the
00:58:00opening ceremony of the paralympics happening in paris yeah i couldn't be there but please let me know
00:58:06how how how is it well it was super fun uh so it was not the the big opening of of it was this was
00:58:14the smaller one at the paralympics and this was an opening ceremony at plas begal
00:58:19uh at a hotel big hotel that's located plas begal and it was a performance by a group that is called
00:58:29mix city and they do a show a spectacle with music and dance through uh different stages of of of the
00:58:38building through the windows so it was great it was a lot of people it's a nice ambiance and people
00:58:44are you know it's like being on a big spectacle so it was really fun so you're used to doing that
00:58:50right to shooting people dancing moving yes yes yes yes i do so that's super fun i prefer i i love to
00:58:57photoshoot you know spectacles and and movements and artists and behind the scenes you know when
00:59:03they do the maquillage the makeup and fixing the clothes and you you are behind the behind stage
00:59:09i i love that and i i will come back to moulin rouge in the near future and photoshoot backstage
00:59:15that's great and where can we see the pictures you have a website i do have a website and i also do
00:59:21some exhibitions here and here and then in in paris at the moment i have some small exhibition at
00:59:27two different restaurants in paris one at woodville in the deuxième around the small and one at
00:59:34restaurant called chef fernand in the saint-germain de prer and then i show a little bit of my black
00:59:41and white photography and it's a mixture of dancers and artists and black and white spirits
00:59:46so people seem to like the picture so i hope they're happy yeah they do i came there and
00:59:53i know many people who love that yeah yeah at the exhibition at la mascot at la mascot indeed
00:59:58how is it to photograph in paris because i guess you've been photographing in different countries
01:00:05maybe in sweden so how is photographing in paris different from photographing in any other city of
01:00:12the world uh very different i'll be photographing in stockholm of course new york the caribbean
01:00:19south of france um every every every location has its charm uh but of course paris is uh is unique
01:00:31here i have of course much more time but even when i was not living here and just came here for a
01:00:37short period of time you have so much uh and and stockholm is also beautiful new york has its charm
01:00:45too and the caribbean yeah palm trees at the beach yeah but what makes paris unique for you so much
01:00:52history it's something special it's really i think it's because it has so much history and paris hasn't
01:01:00changed so much you can see all postcard pictures from the 50s from the 20s from the late 1800 it still
01:01:07looks the same the buildings are still standing they're a little bit more polished today they they
01:01:13washed them that's for good yeah perfect good but but you know it still looks the same you can be on
01:01:19the street it looks the same okay you have a different model of the cars but it's the same buildings
01:01:23and that's the that's the beauty of paris it doesn't change you can feel it went through the
01:01:30ages yeah yeah you really feel that you you walk in the same street looking at the same window and the
01:01:35building and the shop like you did here 100 years ago and that's amazing it's amazing you can really
01:01:41feel the history and not so many cities you can do that and you like vintage so that yeah yeah it
01:01:49doesn't help you if paris were a color or a sound what would it be for you oh the color would be for
01:01:59sure the the the color of the buildings and the rooftops beige grayish blue all these shades you
01:02:06like yeah uh and i also like that kind of colors in the interior even if my home at the moment is very
01:02:12black and white and gray but uh paris in color if if paris would be a color is the rooftops of the
01:02:20buildings this grayish bluish beige uh sound ah well you have two sounds of course the music and then
01:02:29the cars but if i have to choose music it would be something between us navure and edith piaf
01:02:36that's paris for me and for everyone i guess you know that uh otherwise the car do do move
01:02:43i like the combination um how do you explore paris you say that sometimes you go out you're
01:02:53you know you like also going for inspiration sometimes you feel like you are creative today
01:02:59and so do you have a track um how do you explore paris oh you know paris is extra beautiful at
01:03:07sunrise uh because it's so it's still quiet and not so much people out so if you really want to see
01:03:13the beauty of paris and have it a little bit for yourself uh go out in the sunrise absolutely you you
01:03:21i never get tired of it i never and you can you can see the city anywhere at sunrise and it's beautiful
01:03:26especially if it's nice weather and the sun comes up i wish i had time i wish i took myself
01:03:32more time to explore paris with camera night time because paris is magic when it's night time when
01:03:40the lamps goes on and even if it's raining or bad weather you know when you see the cobblestones
01:03:45the water is mirror mirroring it's so beautiful and we could see that during you know the ceremony
01:03:51the opening ceremony it was raining like crazy cats and dogs and still it was beautiful right
01:03:55oh it's it's such a beautiful magical city so i never get tired of it it's uh and i wish i took
01:04:01myself more time to but usually in the evening either you know you have dinner at home or you're
01:04:05sitting sitting by my computer editing so but um if you have time just walk the nights in paris
01:04:11is really special i love it uh has there been a particular location in paris that continues to draw
01:04:18you back where you go quite often to photograph or just to you know um hike or yeah momart of course
01:04:26never get tired of it it's so picturesque here even if it's a lot of tourists at some location like
01:04:32plaster tight and sacricor but then again go early morning or late evening then you the tourist has gone
01:04:37home uh otherwise i love uh ilsa louis and the bridges it's really beautiful there uh so that's
01:04:47my favorite parts of paris but i do love so many locations in paris you know every year on this one
01:04:53has its charm and some streets has extra charm so i never get tired you know i last week or yeah last
01:05:00week i was three times in saint-germain de prier and i don't go there so often so you kind of forget
01:05:06about it a little bit but you know it's really nice it's really nice and especially in the
01:05:09evenings it's really nice but you wouldn't leave anywhere else than in montmartre no i i feel very
01:05:16home in in our little village here in montmartre it's a little village in the big city so i really
01:05:22for me that's uh you know the art is so many artists here it's bohemian life it's very people
01:05:28know each other you recognize people everywhere and you say hi to everyone on the street and it's really
01:05:33nice so uh for me it's um montmartre is home
01:05:37um what is your own definition of an artist because you are an artist you know many artists
01:05:44in montmartre also you photograph them so who are they uh creative people who create something
01:05:51that others can enjoy a little bit in some part you know because art is you know it's in the eyes of
01:06:00the beholder so if you create something is for to show it to someone else to enjoy what what they
01:06:07like or don't like it's up to them but you create something for more than yourself a little bit i think
01:06:13uh but art is also for for yourself it has to come from within but you need someone to
01:06:20to see it you know a writer you what would a writer be if you didn't read it so
01:06:27it needs to go beyond your own taste yeah no no i don't think that you should have your own taste
01:06:34but you need to have an audience so to say because you don't want to create something and no one is
01:06:39watching or reading it that would be very sad uh and it's hard to be an artist because you never get
01:06:45rich you don't make if you can make enough money to pay your bills you're happy that's an artist
01:06:50typical artist if you if you can make more money that would be that that that's a plus but you always
01:06:56need to let's say fight for that reach yeah but also when you when when you're an artist you you kind
01:07:01of you accept to live that kind of life always on on the edge you know always struggling but that's
01:07:09the charm of it too and you work for yourself you work for your passion you take a risk
01:07:14um is it can be a tough life um but it's worth it because you you you have it you have such a
01:07:22freedom mostly um so well if you have a passion art can be so much but you need some kind of audience
01:07:30otherwise it's hard to survive um so do you think paris is a city for artists i think yes but i mean
01:07:41do you think particularly for photographs oh yes of course so that's where you have to be movies the
01:07:48fashion the yeah of course paris is the i think that's the best city for photographers you have
01:07:56so many photographers yet the concurrence is huge you see it with the let's say business eye
01:08:02yeah yeah the concurrence is tough but no it's amazing for photographer i think that's the best city
01:08:07absolutely would you say that paris changed your life oh yes totally in how many ways and to what
01:08:16extent all the ways every any way yeah so both as an artist and a person yeah for sure as an artist
01:08:23because i don't think i would have the same opportunities and possibilities in stockholm
01:08:28uh because it's smaller um i think i i would have done i would have done it as more as a hobby
01:08:35maybe part-time and i know a lot of photographers in in sweden uh who are professionals but i think
01:08:42they also have a second job also it is tough to be a photographer because the concurrence is so huge
01:08:47but uh yeah and how do you see your future in in paris and so that you would stay in paris forever yeah
01:08:57yeah really yeah yeah um so how do you see the future here i mean what are your project dreams for
01:09:04tomorrow next projects uh well i hope i'm 52 now so i don't feel old but i'm not 13 but um
01:09:13i hope i can still survive on my photography for many more years to come but with artificial
01:09:21intelligence it's getting tougher of course uh how the future with classic photography is going to be
01:09:29just next year or in next five or ten so hard to say i think it depends what kind of photography
01:09:36photography you do but some photography will survive and some will die
01:09:41um because of artificial intelligence and then what then artistic photography may survive or do
01:09:47you think that artists will also have to work with ai artificial intelligence i think both
01:09:52technology how you deliver it depends what the client wants you to photo shoot let's say sometimes i
01:09:58photo shoot uh hotels or apartments um and um you can do a lot with artificial intelligence and i think
01:10:09some clients will ask for more of that and because i i i don't go to school
01:10:15anymore and you need to follow the new uh trends and the new possibilities so i some some some things
01:10:24maybe it's going to be harder for me to to to follow i don't know can be tricky but also i guess that
01:10:30you cannot really at least right now maybe do everything with ai especially if you photograph models for
01:10:36instance yeah so some some some dancer they want their own uh professional photo shoots they don't
01:10:42want to have an ai robot doing the dance for them and wedding uh i i stopped with wedding photography
01:10:48um i don't do that anymore uh of course you have to photo shoot the real couples can't be artificial
01:10:54intelligence but it depends a little bit but i for my future i just hope i can uh survive on it
01:11:01uh in one way or another my dream is to someday have a big coffee table photo book published by
01:11:10tarshan in in in france that would be great tarshan or tarshan tarshan tarshan i don't know the
01:11:16pronunciation actually but but you know which one yes yes i do they do great books about artists and
01:11:22great pictures that's on my bucket list if i if i if they publish a book for me yeah i gotta check on it
01:11:29uh we can see many of your um um photographs on your on your website um also um you do some
01:11:38exhibitions what do you like about it because you you talked about audience how important it is also
01:11:43to show your work because that's also part of the the job of an artist yeah um so how is it to show
01:11:49your arts i mean what does it do to you what kind of emotions and what do you try to um also share
01:11:55with the people and with the audience when you do exhibitions it makes me very happy when i when i
01:12:02see people like the photos and the eyes gonna oh i love it that's so beautiful oh well you know when
01:12:08they just get going oh and i think it's because what i'm photo shooting when it's beautiful dancers
01:12:13so we um or the classic i was surprised when i had my exhibition at la mascotte when the locals the
01:12:21local parisian montmartre people who really capture the essence of paris and montmartre and
01:12:26and you know that is the best uh compliment you can have when it's from the local parisians saying
01:12:32that so it makes me very happy yeah it's like if i if i can catch it the way they like it
01:12:37that'll make me happy that's great uh yeah perception from yourself you have a great eye
01:12:43empathy also to really understand the city that uh but maybe also you have a fresh eye
01:12:50on it maybe yeah maybe like i said i want to see the beauty whilst the parisian i can oh
01:12:56boring i know it already they don't see it they don't see it um i have a um one more question for
01:13:04you that would be more about what do you think we should be talking more about in society today um
01:13:11understanding um you know i i follow but it has nothing to do with paris but i follow the the
01:13:21the going on election in the big country across the sea
01:13:25and i hope europe never gets like that uh in politics that you fight so much that uh you know
01:13:36with you you should have more transparency with with human beings we we just have one planet
01:13:41we're the same kind of people we just have different history and religion and colors we should be more
01:13:47compassion to our neighbors i think of course that creates problems when open borders too much but
01:13:55i don't know is you know the world is so tough today and um i don't know so more understanding
01:14:02more understanding be you know you only live once have fun stop complaining so much see the
01:14:08the glass yeah it could be worse it could be worse and actually i you know living how we live in europe
01:14:14today it's actually pretty good be more grateful happy that you're not sick you have a roof over your
01:14:22head and have compassion for the people who doesn't have that be more nice to your neighbor even if you
01:14:28live in the same building if you cross the street together be more nice give a helping hand when
01:14:35you can and then you're going to get as many opportunities as magdalena boomerang is coming
01:14:41back and you never know what's going to happen i love it um just one thing i'm thinking of now um
01:14:48not sure you want to talk about it in a let's say very specific way but also understand that sometimes
01:14:52it's very hard for uh photographs to get credits yeah um also and i wanted to have your view on that
01:15:00um not to go into too many details but just you know what's your experience or what you think about
01:15:06that because with you talked about artificial intelligence and i think also now with internet
01:15:11and with social media i think maybe people you know take your pictures share them without crediting so
01:15:18i guess i can understand how hungry uh we can be when people steal the work yeah so that happens a
01:15:28lot i guess so yes how do you also i think it's maybe it's important to share the message because uh
01:15:35you know of course it's not about politics or anything but also about just maybe for people
01:15:39to be conscious that what you find on the internet sometimes belongs to people who put lots of
01:15:44extra heart lots of energy into it so also so that people can understand that sometimes because
01:15:49i i have to show some of my picture on internet to get clients so they know i'm a photographer and
01:15:56this is my style of what i do otherwise people wouldn't know but as soon as you do that uh when
01:16:02it goes especially on facebook you know you never know where your picture is going to end up in
01:16:06the end and a lot of people download and republish the picture without saying who took the picture
01:16:12i need that publicity so even if you borrow my picture and show it to your friends or another
01:16:16group or i love paris group or whatever group it can be please just say who is the photographer so
01:16:22spread the name of the photographer because maybe they can give me a client in the future even if you
01:16:27don't pay to see the picture uh so as a photographer you need that same as if you are you write a book or
01:16:34you're a column in a newspaper you want to know who did this article or someone created a movie you
01:16:40want to know the director of the movie so show some uh respect for the one who created the first
01:16:46picture so the rest of the world know who that photographer is um also my my picture has been
01:16:55stolen i can find them on postcard in every tourist shop in paris that's not nice someone is making
01:17:00money on my work and i don't i don't get money for it so it's crazy because we can see many of your
01:17:07pictures great pictures in paris but you're not rewarded you're not paid for it so that's it is
01:17:13crazy yeah it makes you sad because i could use those a little extra money everywhere you know and
01:17:19also to let's say keep doing what you do so that's also important to understand that uh if you not get
01:17:25paid you can't go on leaving and also the negative thing is that some picture maybe picture i'm extra happy
01:17:34for i don't dare to publish them on facebook anymore because someone is going to steal them
01:17:39and use them and make money on them instead of me making money on them because i like to share i need
01:17:44an audience like i said to to to share my work so people can book me for their own photo shoots
01:17:50uh but some some picture i'm extra happy maybe i don't show them in the future
01:17:55on maybe i don't publish them on facebook because someone's going to steal them and use them
01:17:59in a bad way so you're more cautious means that they're going to make money on them without me
01:18:05yeah so that's a that's the negative thing you know when the publish on the internet
01:18:10so you get more cautious and then yeah you share a bit less yeah and that's a shame because i need to
01:18:16show my work so exhibition is actually maybe one of the best yeah even if people can take pictures but
01:18:22it's not the same because it's not i don't get this big audience of course so um but i don't mind
01:18:28people sharing my work on internet as long as you say who photo by Magdalena Martin yeah so you need
01:18:35to find the right balance between sharing and keeping yourself in this tough yeah of course i
01:18:41show much more pictures on my own website but it's harder to download from them yeah you have security
01:18:47so i think that's also a little bit easier to protect my picture there even you can do screenshots
01:18:53or things like that but you can't download like you do on facebook and then you know all this
01:18:58facebook rules that they they don't own the picture of course but they have their rights to
01:19:04to to you know your picture when when you publish on facebook you never know where the picture
01:19:08you're gonna end up in and so yeah so maybe just uh let's remember to credit uh always always
01:19:16credit photographer always always always always always good reminder even for me i mean you know sometimes
01:19:21you do not want to do wrong but you just forget or you're just unconscious because you know uh but
01:19:27just uh yeah calm reminder and good reminder yeah please do we we want to have our names published we
01:19:35we need our audience we need to let people know who took the picture yeah always credit we're not going
01:19:39to sue you for money we just just photo buy yeah respect as you said yeah and rewarding yeah and Magdalena
01:19:49um anything else you want to share uh with the audience that we have today oh you know last words uh
01:19:57from you i don't know uh so much to share um don't be afraid to to take risks and chances in your life
01:20:07open more doors um challenge yourself and for me anything is possible it's just uh it can be it can be
01:20:19different hard to make things happen but if you have a will there is a way you need to allow the
01:20:26unexpected in your life yeah be a little bit adventure yeah and you're a great example of that
01:20:34so thanks a lot for sharing Magdalena thank you thank you very much and we see you around with your
01:20:39great exhibitions and we will share everything in the description the links uh and your website of
01:20:44course yeah great right thank you thank you see you soon
01:20:52you
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