Charlene Winfred
CHARLENE WINDFRED is a Fujifilm X-Photographer who captures exquisitely the byproduct of a life in perpetual transit. She was born and raised in Singapore. She lived for 15 years in Australia. In 2013, she sold everything and began the life of a nomad.
3 words to describe Nature?
Overwhelming, longing, life
3 things Nature taught you?
That life persists. That death comes for us all. That to be able to walk, to test my body against the earth, is one of the finest abilities I am lucky enough to take for granted (at the moment, anyway)
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Arches National Park. The open ocean. Any inner city park, being the closest I normally get to Nature... sad but true!
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Overwhelmed and calmed at the same time
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like I want to go for a very long walk and look at everything. This very rarely happens, however.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I've never actually seen one, so I'll get back to you when I do!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Sunrise - it's been a while since I've seen one of those. Next! Sunset - whenever I'm in a position to see an entire sunset vista, it honestly makes me feel like having a glass of wine.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Glad to be inside!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like I want to be outside, running around like a crazy person.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Of the 4, the Ocean has been the only one I can say I've been to enough to be familiar with its many moods. I like to think I'd be a mountain person, because I find rocks strangely comforting to be around (and climbing is one of the things I've wished I could afford to do since I was a kid), but that could be me romanticizing both mountains and my affinity for them! Again, will get back to you if/when that actually happens.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, because it's everything. We can't live without nature can we?
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
There are no maritime background, or lineage of proud/rogue sailors in my family’s runaway past. My father was a mad keen fisherman though, and that’s probably where my draw to the ocean started. Dad would disappear for days on these extended fishing trips in the South China sea when I was little, bringing back ice chests full of all sorts of fish and a bunch of awesome stories each time (he was a sensational story teller). I begged to go for years and kept being told it would happen as soon as I was old enough.
So that was my 8th birthday present. My parents worried for their small, sickly child out at sea during the onset of the monsoon season, but as Dad would recall about 20 years later, I’d positively flourished in those 5 days. That was the beginning of yearly trips in Malaysian waters.
The things I remember about being at sea: Stormy days – large approaching masses of angry water waiting to eat the boat, securing anything that would fly when being tossed around. Listening to the boat creak and moan woefully in the thrash. Afterwards, small fish roiling on the water as the clouds moved away, far as the eye could see in every direction; a lone marlin worrying a frantic ball of its prey in the water, the glorious still-frame of a sailfish in flight, a line of sunlight gleaming off its saltwater lacquered dorsal fin, down curved flank and flashing off its sickle of tail. The curious, heady mix of brine and diesel fumes (and in this case, old fish) that to me, will always mean “port.”
But what I retain most about those days is staring up at clouds puffing into existence, wavering shards of sunlight converging conical to a point in the water, or at a horizon that was never really still, the way it is on land. I never took to fishing, but it allowed me to spend days dreaming in any available spot on the boat, with or without a rod in hand.
Flemming Bo Jensen
FLEMMING BO JENSEN is a Fujifilm ambassador, official Red Bull photographer and renowned music photographer. Music, especially electronic music, is a big part of what makes his heart beat. For him, being able to combine music and photography is a dream come true. Since November 2009 he has lived as a nomad. He was the former Head of IT in a Danish Government agency, but wanted to see new horizons and left Copenhagen and his job in 2009. He has been on the road for more than 7 years now, and is still wandering the world, although can usually be found in Copenhagen during the summer months, enjoying the music festivals. He is the author of the ebook GET IN THE LOOP – How To Make Great Music Images.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awe-inspiring. Heals. Home.
3 things Nature taught you?
I was born and brought up on a dairy farm, so here goes: Respect and love for our planet, nature and animals. Where I truly belong. And a cow standing on your 8 year old foot will not move and not care how much it hurts.
- oh as I started traveling, I learned a 4: Nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito!
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Arches National Park, Utah, USA. Rottnest Island, Western Australia. My home country and landscapes of Himmerland, Denmark.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I was born on a farm, not near water so it used to make me feel great fear and a little bit drawn to it at the same time. Now that I learned how to swim and free-dive it still makes me feel fear - but now I want to go in it and explore!
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful, in a fairy tale, carrying mosquito repellent, afraid we will someday have no more forests.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I will let you know when I see one!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I am not a morning person so sunrises are rare, unless they happen at 10am in the Scandinavian winter and I can have a coffee with it! Sunset makes me feel like bliss, like we are given a few minutes glimpse into a possible state of the world if we tried harder to protect nature, a few minutes where everything is alright.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Time to get the cows inside :)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cold. The wind is always cold in the Nordics.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Desert. I love wide open spaces.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. My body couldn't breathe without it. My soul couldn't live without it.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I used to take our dogs for long walks down the fields, just to be out there alone (featuring cows), in a wide open space feeling that everything is possible.