Hi, I’m Alice Zilberberg. I’m an artist.
My medium is photography; I take different images in different places and combine them together in Photoshop, along with lots of layers and digital work to create my pieces.
I’ve always been an artist. I started by drawing when I was little, and in high school, I started playing around with photography and image-compositing.
I really liked the style that I was able to achieve, which was simultaneously real and surreal. I’ve worked in this style ever since. I hold a BFA from Ryerson University’s Image Arts Photography program.
I’ve built my business around my artwork over the past decade, and now you can view my artwork in galleries and shows globally.
I switched to using digital medium format cameras a few years ago, purchasing the Fujifilm GFX 100s system first, and I now also have the Hasselblad X2D 100C.
In the past, I’ve used Nikon gear; however, since I print my artwork in a very large format and create artwork of the highest quality possible, it is absolutely pivotal for my work to be shot on these cameras.
Other than that, I consider myself minimal in terms of the gear I use.
I use the Fujifilm GFX system for a few reasons. It’s a medium-format camera that can shoot very fast compared to some competitors, and I need it to get sharp shots of my animals.
I am able to get shots of the animals as they are moving, and in general, the focus is very fast, so this is ideal for me for my project with the animals. I can also use this camera to shoot backgrounds.
The Hasselblad X2D 100C is like no other camera I’ve had. It’s beautiful and minimal. As someone who learned photography using film cameras, I appreciate the simplicity of this camera. I use it to shoot the backgrounds for my pieces.
I find the colors achieved by this camera to be like no other.
As for my lenses, I have a Fujifilm GF 120mm f/4 for shooting animals. This is perfect for me, being that I shoot the animals in zoos and the like, so the animals are a little bit closer to me than they would be in the wild.
I then place the animals digitally and metaphorically “back” into nature scenes, which I shoot all over the world, using either the Fujifilm GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR or the Hasselblad XCD 38mmV f/2.5.
I often combine many backgrounds to form the final piece. I like to have both these focal lengths on the different cameras with me to use in different situations, especially in places such as Iceland, where I’m constantly in and out of the car to shoot different backgrounds.
My camera bag is the WANDRD PRVKE 21L. This bag is amazing! It’s the perfect bag to travel with.
First off, it fits under the seat on an airplane, so I can always count on it as a carry-on piece. It’s very customizable. For example, the part where I put my cameras can turn into a cube bag separable from the bigger bag, which I sometimes use if I need to do any quick shooting close to home.
The bag is also pretty waterproof and very durable, which I like because I travel sometimes deep in nature and need something that can survive any weather.
I travel with lots of batteries: currently, four FUJIFILM NP-W126S, one Hasselblad 7.2V 3400mAh, and a power bank to charge them remotely if I am on a trip including long days in nature without access to power.
I also have lots of memory cards, which I fill up on long trips. Even on long trips, I keep the files there until I get home to offload on my Apple iMac.
Since I’m often shooting while traveling, I have my passport with me, held in a secret pocket in the camera bag. I usually use my Canadian passport while traveling to give to hotels and the like since everyone likes Canada.
My DJI OSMO Mobile 6 Gimbal is usually in my camera bag as well to shoot any behind-the-scenes videos on my phone. I really like how it works, but I don’t get to use it that often because when I’m shooting, I am usually focused on shooting with my camera and not my phone. I wish I had a replica of me for this job.
Even though it’s not part of my shooting gear, my Apple MacBook Air is always with me on long trips, so I can remain connected and have access to anything I need to do while traveling, like attending to orders and artwork submissions.
Over the years, I’ve used many cameras, and my gear has always slightly changed. However, I always say that it’s not the gear that creates the art; it’s the artist.
The vision and the concept, created from intuition and from the heart – that’s most important.
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