My name is Nina Papiorek, and I am a professional fine art street photographer.
I am based in Germany and have pursued my passion for over twenty years.
Architecture and lines, light and shadow, and meticulousness determine my work.
In street photography, a lot seems to be left to chance – but I believe that even in this genre, you can work extensively on the image composition, the light, or the environment to achieve the best possible result.
My works are candid; I meet my protagonists purely by chance on the street, and these people play a decisive role in my photography.
Underlined by my distinct minimalist approach, which runs like a common thread through my works, the connection between people and their urban surroundings becomes the focus of my photography narrative.
But first…coffee. Coffee is always a solution; coffee is always kind and polite, and coffee tastes good. No photo walk begins without a mug of coffee in my hand.
I am a Fujifilm photographer in both head and heart!
I shoot with both systems – the X series and the GFX series.
My Fujifilm X-H2 enchants me with its compactness, speed, and enormous resolution and quality for an APSC sensor. When you travel a lot, you occasionally want to save every gram of weight, so my choice often falls on the Fujifilm X-H2.
However, I have lost my heart to the GFX!
She is the boss in my camera bag for medium-format street photography? She must be crazy… oh yes, I am 🙂
It’s perhaps a slightly unusual way to take photos on the street. With a large, eye-catching camera that many people would stay away from for this very reason, most opt for a small compact camera instead.
Photography only ends when I hold a high-quality fine art print in my hand, and this is precisely where my starting point lies between street photography and medium format.
There’s nothing like the exhilarating image quality of the GFX sensor when you stand just centimeters away from a large format on the wall and discover the slightest shades, nuances, and details.
Perhaps this passion needs to be experienced and lived to be understood.
My Fujifilm GFX100s II is fast, the autofocus system is precise, and the handling has become so similar to that of a DSLR in recent years that I don’t see any hurdles to using it. On the contrary, this camera is my fulfillment.
In both systems, I currently only use zoom lenses that, converted to 35mm format, cover a focal length range between 14 and 200mm.
On the one hand, this gives me the most excellent possible flexibility on the road, but on the other hand, it allows me to keep my luggage relatively small.
With three lenses per system, I am fully equipped to meet my needs:
Fujifilm XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR
FujifilmXF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM W
Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 LM OIS W
Fujifilm GF 20-35mm f/4 WR
Fujifilm GF 32-64mm f/4 R LM WR
Fujifilm GF 100-200mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR
Both versions of the telephoto zoom are among my absolute favorite lenses because of their image look, which is mainly achieved when compressing objects in the telephoto range.
Note to yourself. You can never have enough batteries and memory cards in your bag. I prefer to take too many photos rather than one too few as I can sort them out afterward on my computer at home.
I prefer to take photos while traveling and in places that are unfamiliar to me. The novelty is incredibly appealing to me and my work, while everyday life often paralyzes me.
A must-have in my camera bag is a smartphone for GPS navigation in foreign cities. In most cases, I probably wouldn’t even be able to find the way back to my hotel when I am focused on photography. Headphones for music as nothing inspires me as much as roaming the world and discovering new places inspired by music.
These forays with my Fujifilm cameras led me to my first photobook, “Akribie.”
Ready for new adventures and ready for new photos? That’s me.
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