Antonina Mamzenko was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. She had trained as a lawyer, but decided to change careers and move to London, where she met her husband and now has a 2-month old baby boy Alexander. Antonina specializes in contemporary maternity, newborn and family photography.
“I love capturing children just the way they are: loud or shy, happy or grumpy. And I love seeing beauty in people – beauty they often don’t see themselves. I’m told I have a magic touch with the camera.”
WLM recently caught up with Antonina:
How long have you been a photographer?
I’ve been photographing a lot since I moved to London in 2005, gradually improving my skills and practicing on friends, but professionally I’ve been working as a photographer for over a year.
What got you into photography?
I’ve always been a creative kid. I drew, danced and wrote short stories. But for whatever reason photography was not on my radar, despite my dad being an amateur photographer and having a darkroom in our flat!
I’d say that as with all the best things in my life, I got into photography through series of random events: moving to London and wanting to document every inch of it with my little compact, and then getting a temporary job with a photographer who advised me on my first DSLR camera and inspired me to improve. When I saw what I could achieve with a DSLR, I wanted to keep photographing and now I can’t see myself doing anything else.
Which photographer do you look up to and why?
I don’t think I have a single photographer I look up to. But I follow work of a lot of photographers, and I’m friends with many of them, and they inspire me every single day with their work and their personalities.
What do you prefer – film or digital?
Digital. It gives me a great flexibility to experiment and try things I would never with film.
What should your customers expect during a session?
A totally relaxed atmosphere. I work exclusively on location – a client’s home or a local park – and use only natural light, so there’s no bulky equipment, light stands or tripods that often seem so intimidating and restricting.
I am a storyteller. I stand back, let my clients do their own thing, and capture it as it happens.
So if it’s a family session, we’ll play together and capture some great photographs in the process. If it’s a newborn session, we will not rush things and will wait as long as it takes until the baby is happy and sleeping for that cute newborn portrait. And if it’s a maternity session, I’ll gently direct the mum-to-be to the most flattering pose to show off her gorgeous bump!
Do you have any tips for capturing the perfect picture?
Don’t think about getting the perfect picture! Instead, be ready to just capture the moment – whether your child is smiley or grumpy. In a few years time you’ll cherish both of those photographs equally. And never ask your children to say “cheese”. Make fart noises instead. There you go, my trade secret revealed.
To see more of Antonina’s work, please visit:
