Originally from Finland and now London- based Karoliina Barlund is a portrait and fashion photographer and also the Creative Director of ALVAR Magazine. Karoliina received her BA in Photography at the University of the Creative Arts and her MA in Fashion Photography at University of the Arts London. Since then, she has been working in the industry full time for the past 5 years and recently launched ALVAR Magazine in June.
platformPHOTO: To you, what makes a great portrait?
Karoliina Barlund: I prefer my subjects be as natural as possible, even in their own clothes, because I believe that a great portrait is made when a person’s personality comes through. Also I prefer shooting outdoors or indoors with natural light and little to no use of Photoshop retouching. In preparation for a portraiture shoot, I always get to know the person so that I may accurately reflect them in my photographs.
platformPOTO: What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?
Karoliina Barlund: I try to take pictures that I like not thinking too much what the audience wants.
platformPHOTO: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Karoliina Barlund: Starting our own magazine ALVAR. The magazine is “created in London, with a Nordic twist”. The magazine is sold in print currently in 13 countries and focuses on style and culture. It is also available online: http://www.alvarmagazine.com
platformPHOTO: Thank you so much for your time today Karoliina, we have one last question for you. If we sent you to a desert island and allowed you to take only one picture with you by another photographer, what would this image be?
Karoliina Barlund: It would definitely be a picture of my boyfriend, family and loved ones, all in one picture.
You can view more of Karoliina’s work on her site: http://www.karoliinabarlund.com/