Photo credit: DALTON HERNANDEZ
Nadia (pronounced NA-JA) is a native New York artist living in Long Island, New York.
As a young creative, she designed jewelry, then functional art, before moving to painting pet portraits and scapes... She separately spent 20 years as a graphic designer & art director for print and web designs...
She has partnered with Adobe on a Mobile Lightroom Campaign, been included in RIZZOLI's New York City on Instagram book featuring NYC Instagram photographers, and was an influencer for a helicopter company in NYC...
While she feels humbled about the above accomplishments and collaborations, her most rewarding work so far has been partnering with non profits: i.e. helping tell their stories through her pictures.
She traveled to India with Nomi Network in November 2018, which is working in the anti-trafficking space. Separately on a mission in June 2019 to the Philippines with Watts of Love, which distributes solar panel lights to communities without electricity. She is extremely grateful to her photo community that she has received incredible inspiration and support from.
The following is from a @presco Interview and speaks to a bit of her process and journey.
Nadia Block is an New York/ Brooklyn based photographer whose main purpose is excite people with her shots and she is really good at that!
I hope you’ll enjoy the interview;
How did you fall in love with photography?
I am an artist. Photography has always been the gateway/ starting point for my paintings.Three years ago I decided to pursue photography as my final art. I think the community that i have since built, contributes to the love I have for photography…
How important is having a unique style as a photographer? How would you describe your style?
As an artist, I have tried to be clear (firstly with myself) that my art/ photography was uniquely me. When I was in college, I struggled in my first drawing class a GREAT deal! My drawings didn’t looked like the others students and that was initially very hard for me. i didn’t feel i fit in or saw the world as others did. I beat myself until I finally realized that my style- with all its flaws- was powerful and interesting in a different way. My teacher at the time helped me to see that my style was maybe more expressive than the students who could draw the model realistically…
It was one of the most important life lessons for me- and allowed me to begin to accept and even appreciate me…
Where did you grow up? How have your roots influenced your sense of style?
I grew up in Brooklyn and NYC. Growing up in NY gave me access to a lot of experiences that formed my style and influenced my growth, at an early age. I think it helped me with my confidence, having had many – let’s call them- interesting encounters at a young age. (smile) I think it made me grow up a bit faster than if i had grown up in a suburb or smaller town…
What advice would you give to aspiring photographers out there?
I think it’s important to have a community which you learn from and which supports you. One where you can give back to as well. Whether that be a club, through school or social media. I personally love to learn- so whenever i get a new piece of gear – a camera- i’ll take a class.
Have you ever run out of ideas?
Sure, there are days/periods when I feel blocked. I’ll then ask myself if there is a good reason for it- if i should step back and take a break or simply push myself to create, even if i feel blocked.
How do you find places and for your shootings?
Since I tend to not shoot people it would be places. Sometimes a photo friend will suggest we chase something in particular, I will come up with something, or see something on tv, a magazine or on social media that i want to explore…
What’s the one piece of photo gear you couldn’t live without?
My Manfroto tripod for night/long exposures.
Do you edit your photos? If yes, which programs do you use?
I do. In fact, I consider my editing process about 1/2 of my creative process- shooting being the other 1/2. I use Lightroom… I’ll sometimes use the Nik collection as well…
We would like to express our gratitude to Nadia Block for this great interview.
