MANJA WACHSMUTH
DISTORTED NORMALITY
We found ourselves in lockdown again, and we sought nature to find ourselves and silence in the chaos. To find normality.
To hear the children laughing, feel the sand under our feet and the wind in our hair. Hoping to return to a state of calm.
But what we found was not calming. It did not ease the mind and did not wash away the worry.
The chaos had followed us and we felt anxious still. It was a distorted normality.
“During the second lockdown, I felt the heavy weight of children at home, struggling to keep up with the demand of feeding and entertainment. No matter where I went, I just couldn’t shake this anxious feeling.
The focus on mental health during Covid has been minimal compared to that of physical health. Which is more important?”
MANJA WACHSMUTH
Manja Wachsmuth is an award winning, Danish photographer. Having spent the last 20 years in the professional photography industry, shooting advertising campaigns and editorial content for clients in Scandinavia, Germany, UK, US, Australia and running her own business in New Zealand, Manja confidently works across the sprectrum of photographic challenge.
Now living in Auckland with her Kiwi husband and their two boys, Manja has established herself as a sought-after food and lifestyle photographer, working with agencies, book publishers, magazines, lifestyle brands, top chefs & restaurants.
Her Scandinavian heritage is reflected in the clean and simple style of her photography, that is evocative and beautifully lit like the long summer nights and sharp Winter days of her native Denmark.
Manja brings a direct approach, clear vision and strong sense of purpose to every shoot. Her goal is always to create authentic images that are beautiful in their detail, images that serve as respites from the chaos of everyday life, or “pockets of beauty and order”, as she describes them.