My professional journey has been defined by a lifelong passion for storytelling and the pursuit of visual excellence. I have always loved getting lost with my camera, whether looking through all manner of windows, taking long walks, or exploring new cities and cultures.
I find endless inspiration in travel, especially when I can turn interesting corners, see unusual angles, and discover new horizons. My favorite souvenirs are the photos I have taken when I take time, become immersed, and wander around, zooming in and out. Each destination, each moment, is an opportunity to capture a new frame of the world and its unfiltered beauty.
The late Marc Riboud, a renowned photographer known for the extensive visual diaries he took of his travels, put it best. To take pictures, he said, is to “savor life intensely, every one-hundredth of a second.” Except with the Leica Q3 in hand, it feels more like every thousandth of a second.
The compact and lightweight design inspires me to pick up my camera and take it with me wherever I go, never feeling weighed down by a bag full of gear.
I have to admit, I was at first very skeptical about being limited by a fixed lens. But after spending the last year with a Q3, I was delighted to find that the combination of a 28mm f/1.7 Summilux and a 60 MP sensor is versatile enough to handle almost every subject I encounter with stunning clarity, even in the most challenging lighting conditions.
The macro mode allows me to capture the most intricate details, from the delicate structure of a snowflake on an aircraft window to the velvet petals of a flower, making Q3 my indispensable travel companion.
When I found myself wandering through the streets of Mexico City on the Day of the Dead, the pictures were even more vivid at night. Whether I was roaming the bustling streets of Tokyo or taking in the serene vistas of Bora Bora, the Leica Q3 captures memories so vividly that the images not only take me back in time, they also inspire my future explorations.
Each photograph becomes a portal that connects the here and now to another place at another time, evoking the emotions and stories of one moment as I experience another. But by now, it must be clear why I chose to be a photographer and not a writer, so I invite you to play with koi fish in a Japanese garden. We can walk through the ancient fortress of Trakai in Lithuania and grab a bite at the Tsukiji fish market. Let me show you the craters of the waning Moon from high above the clouds at the highest point in Tenerife. Let’s cross the bridges of the world together, from Zurich to Vilnius and London to New York. Most of all, I hope this essay will inspire you to jump on a train, hop on a plane, or a hot air balloon and capture the world through your own lens.
Of course, don’t forget to pack your camera and savor the moment.
Anastasia Blackman is a photographer and creative director with a professional career that began with theater and film. She grew up in Crimea, Ukraine, shooting a Polaroid 600, and today, she lives in San Francisco, where she works exclusively with natural light, mostly with the Leica Q3 for travel and creative studies. She still dabbles with SLRs for portrait sessions and occasionally keeps other cameras around to play with fishies and corals underwater.
Instagram: @anastasia_blackman
Website: https://www.anastasiablackman.com
