Insta Fav #93: Nana Hagel

Follow: nana_ha

Where are you from? How does that place influence the way you photograph?
I live and work in Copenhagen, Denmark. Naturally, this is where I take the majority of my photos. Though my feed is very much characterized by a clean, Scandinavian aesthetic. I am always much more inspired to take photos while travelling; seeing new things, and talking to people about how life in their part of the world is like. I just got back to Copenhagen after three months in New York, and to be honest, this city doesn’t inspire the least these days. But I know it will come back, it always does.

What are your favorite environments to shoot in?
I’d like to think that my feed is a mix of a lot of different environments, but the truth is, I mostly shoot interiors. I used to have more Copenhagen in my feed, but lately, I am inspired by a more neutral color palette (and white), which is not always easy to find in the streets of Copenhagen.

But I shoot as I go; if a scene is there, I take a photo. It’s not always as arranged and organized as people think (except for when I post styled photos from my home; those are of course styled!), but I shoot whatever I like and whatever fits my feed. I feel I have become better at choosing what and what not to post. My photos are sometimes personal, but never private. They often show small scenes of my life, but I don’t use Instagram as a 1:1 reflection of my life – far from it. Mostly because I don’t need 100K people knowing what I am up to all the time – only if this is relevant of some sort or there is a pretty picture to be taken.

What are the strengths of shooting primarily mobile? How does this affect your imagery?
I only shoot with my iPhone for Instagram. It’s always with me, always super easy and ever since I got an iPhone 6 a few months ago, I have been even more statisfied with the quality.

Who and what are the things that inspire you?
Nature, beautifully decorated cafes and restaurants, open spaces, streets, houses, buildings. Simplicity.

Which Apps do you use to edit your pictures?
I use Afterlight and that’s it. As many others, I have flirted around with VSCO and a couple of other apps, but I have come to the conclusion that less is more. I never use any filters, just adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation. In my opinion, a well edited photo is one that does not look edited. It is, of course, because most photos benefit from a little help. But only a little bit!

Tell us a little about your everyday.
My days are pretty flexible, which I am very grateful for. I am still a student studying on my last semester and pretty soon, I am getting started on my master thesis. In reality, I was supposed to start a couple of months ago, but it seems like work always comes in way. I work as a journalist for the Danish food magazine Copenhagen Food and besides that, I do a lot of freelance work. So my days usually consists of researching, talking to people, visiting places, taking photos for guides to Copenhagen and of course, writing. As much as I enjoy taking photos, writing is my number one priority. I like to tell stories, and right now, I mostly tell them about food and travel. Maybe one day, I’ll tell somehing else.

Favorite instagrammers?
There are a whole bunch. Some of them are; @annararo for her simple creativity; @sundaysuppers for her photos of the Brooklyn studio that I miss a lot; @louiselj for her beautiful dark tones, @idalaerke for being one of the first Instagrammers interpret aesthetic onto Instagram and for inspiring so many people along her way; @_foodstories_ for being amazing food photographers, @kimothyolsen for being so true to his style and for playing with surrealism, @dantom for amazing nature and landscapes, @bythebrush for her dreamy universe, @oliviathebauth for her colorful and graphic universe. And I promise, there are so many more, this was not easy!

If you’d like to become a future Insta Fav, follow @ignant or post your profile in the comments below. We’ll look into it.