TITLE: life lessons

I'm Sarah, a 19 year old passionate photographer from Italy. One year ago I decided to go out of my comfort zone and travel the world. I realized how important it was to me to be somewhere else than the normal surroundings and to learn about other ways of living and cultures. Traveling broadens my mind. It's like learning from the life itself as I take new opportunities, challenge myself and sometimes I also need to find solutions for unexpected problems. From every experience I make, wheter positive or negative I'll learn for a lifetime. This makes me stronger and lets grow my personality.

This picture was captured during one of my travels on the North Island of New Zealand. It shows part of a cave in the foreground and further out two friends looking forward and pointing on a rock in the ocean . This view should tell that sometimes you find yourself in a tunnel (cave) , it can be hard travelling on your own with many risks and obstacles (waves) and you never really know what's ahead of you. But there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. The important is just, that you keep going your direction and let love guide you on your travels. If you keep doing that you'll find many ways to beautiful places that will amaze you and you will be able to see new perspectives and boarden your mind. Travels are the teachers of life and these two persons in the center of the picture are it's students.

AUTHOR: Sarah Hofmann (Italy)

I'm Sarah, a 19 year young, passionate photographer from Northern Italy (Dolomites). Photography is escaping in my own world, where I'm able to express my feelings and create my own stories.
It all started at the age of 10, when I got my first camera from my parents as a birthday present. I grew up in a small mountainvillage, surrounded by nature. There wasn't much to do. So I got out with my camera and explored the wilderness. At the age of 14 I took part in my first photography competition. I was the only youg participant among all the adults, but in the end I won the competition. This motivated me even more to keep doing what I like. Nearly every free minute I went out in nature to explore, even in the coldest days or darkest nights, to shoot the milky way, one of my most favorite motives. Sometimes I was waiting for hours and hours, lonely in my tend on the top of a mountain to capture unique moments, like sunrise or sunset. I never got tired of it and improved myself. I learned mostly by doing, watching YouTube videos and meeting up with people with the same passion for photography.
At the age of 18 I was able to make an internship at a professional photographer. There I realized that I really want to make something out of my hobby. Since then I'm working as an assistant for local photographers and doing shootings of weddings, festivals, sports etc.
A year ago I finished highschool and I started traveling the world, to get out of my comfort zone and to explore some new places. It leaded me to big cities of the United States, then to the dreamy Islands of Hawaii and now I'm in New Zealand, always trying to capture special moments and keep them alive forever.