• First off, how are you both and can you tell us a little about yourselves – Chris and Ruth -, your brand and your life in a nutshell 

We’re doing good, thank you! We are Chris and Ruth.. photographers, travelers and married for about ten years now. As photographers we love to connect with the people in front of our lenses to picture them in the most authentic way - no matter if it’s a model in a fashion shoot or a wedding couple. 

We love to create images that tell a story and even more we love the stories behind the pictures. Through photography we got to travel the world and we made friends all around the globe and memories to share. Now we live in Mallorca where we restored a little townhouse. The beautiful Mediterranean Island is what we call home now but we’re still drawn to explore the world and always will be.

 

• How does your comfy clothing assist your expression/confidence as a person and what does modern lounging mean to you when you have such busy lifestyles?

We think fashion is a way to express yourself and should underline ones personality. We like comfy clothing because we’re kind of relaxed people.. When you’ve got style and you like yourself you don’t need brands/names to feel confident. Even though we’re quite busy we also really enjoy the ride. To dress up comfy, definitely helps to enjoy life better. 

 

 

• What would you tell someone who’s been a creative like yourselves, trying to pursue a similar dream?

We always encourage people to chase their dreams.. Of course it’s hard work and you better be aware that you’ll have to sacrifice a lot. But we’d always choose freedom over security. Also we keep saying.. be a creator, not a consumer! Many creatives consume so much that they never really get into action.. But -  some things you can only learn by doing.

 

• Where did your love of photography/travel come from? Have you both always wanted to do what you do?

No.. We both are from a small town and didn’t expect we’d get the chance to see so much of the world. Ruth started with Photography at the age of 16. Chris was working in different jobs back then.. Traveling the world was not more but a dream for us. We then started a business as wedding photographers together and our work went pretty viral on Instagram. We got many requests from couples all around the world who loved our work so much that they really wanted us to shoot their weddings.. That’s how the traveling journey started.

• What one piece of advice or lesson you would share to our Chelsea Peers family from your journey so far?

Don’t restrict yourself in your mind. When we started with wedding photography we were always told that working in weddings is seasonal.. But we were working all year long in the most amazing places in the world.

 

• What are your joint top 3 travel destinations and travel tips and why? 

That’s a hard one! Mexico, the Greek Islands, and the Philippines are 3 of the destinations we made some of our best memories. Mexico and the Greek Islands are the destinations we really spent a lot of time and we got to experience so much of the countries, people and the cultures. The Philippines are probably the most beautiful country we’ve ever been to and the people were the most welcoming. One tip when traveling the Philippines: you shouldn’t be on a tight schedule.. you probably get stuck somewhere due to weather conditions or whatever.. Also there’s different rainy seasons depending on what part of the Philippines you travel.. Keep this in mind when planning your route!

 

• How have the countries you’ve visited shaped the way you are or the way you look at the world?

Well, traveling definitely has taught us to question everything we were taught and the picture we were given by the media. In fact, living in a western country we tend to believe our way is the only right way. Traveling has taught us that there are many different ways and that our western money driven society might not be the only system worth striving for. 

 

• Can you tell us some of the highs and lows of your chosen career and a favorite memory from your work?

There’s not many lows when working in weddings where we always see the most happy people and document some of their happiest moments. Of course the first 2 - 3 years when we started our business were pretty hard. But the highs definitely outweigh the lows. One highlight was when we moved into our house in Mallorca for sure. 

The most spectacular place we got to shoot was a wedding at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi/Kenya. We took the chance to travel to Masai Mara after the wedding and did a Safari. That was a dream coming true.. To see the big 5 free roaming and the wildebeest crossing the Mara River was out of this world. And being in an open jeep, out there where the animals rule, really showed us how small we humans are.. 

 

• What are your 5 pillars to living a healthy and happy life? – these can be anything from diet to habits or beliefs – anything!

Share some love

Eat local food

Spent time outside (ideally in the sun)

Toss out your TV

Surround yourself with positive people

 

• What’s in store for the future for you guys? What are your goals and aspirations for the next 1-5 years?

We just go with the flow and see what life has in store.. we’re pretty relaxed and don’t have long term plans set in stone. However we’re planning on spending most of our winter in Mexico for work and travel again. In terms of travel, we’d like to explore South America one day. And in between photography and travel, we’re currently launching a hat brand - just because we’re hat lovers and we found a passion in this traditional craft of hat making.  - but that’s a different story.