Viktoria Haack – Portrait of a Photographer

Matt Payne

Matt Payne is a landscape photographer and mountain climber from Durango, Colorado. He’s the host of the weekly landscape photography podcast, “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen,” co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, and co-founder of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. He lives with his wife, Angela, his son Quinn, and his four cats, Juju, Chara, Arrow, and Vestal.

mattpaynephotography.com

We have all heard the advice before – “you really should specialise in some kind of photography if you want to stand out from the crowd.” Indeed, many of us in the nature and landscape photography space has taken that advice to heart, and some of us have even dove deeply into super-specialisation in night photography, coastal photography, intentional camera movement photography, woodland photography, or waterfall photography exclusively. After all, that’s a fantastic way to make a name for yourself – by being known as the [insert your sub-genre here] guy/gal. As such, it has been incredibly exciting and refreshing to get to know and appreciate the work of Viktoria Haack, who has chosen to specialise in being a generalist. As will be revealed, this conscious choice, while likely seen as unwise by most, has given Viktoria an edge as a photographer, not only in the creative output of her work but also in her ability to financially sustain herself as an artist. In many of Viktoria’s most well-known images, she seamlessly incorporates beautiful nature scenes and moments into her images, including lifestyle assignments, weddings, and portraiture. This cross-pollination has also given her landscape and nature work that does not incorporate the human element an edge because she has refined her compositional and conceptual chops through this generalist approach.