Travelling Through the Lens
“I endeavour to capture moments of beauty and grace in the world.”
Melissa Haupt is an American travel and still life photographer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Whether travelling the world capturing people and their cultures or shooting evocative still life tableaux at home, Melissa’s photography always endeavours to capture moments of grace and beauty in the world. Melissa photographed Stories of Salt & Starlight for Issue Two of FAIRE.
Words & Photography by Melissa Haupt
I grew up in Pennsylvania in a house right next to my grandfather’s farm. The farm had been in our family since the 1870s. Much of my childhood memories revolve around the farm. When I became older, I was fascinated by the history of our family and became the guardian of the family ancestry and old photos of the farm--including photos of my great, great, great grandfather Josiah’s children sitting on the same barn wall I climbed on throughout my childhood. I believe these family photos were the start of my love of photography--the act of creating images that capture a moment forever and carry a story within them.
I bought my first Nikon camera about twenty years ago. I was mostly a self-taught photographer until 2012 when I went on my first photography workshop in Paris. That workshop really took my photography to another level by teaching me how to hone my vision of what I want to express through my photography.
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.”
As a photographer travelling the world capturing its cultures and people, I strive to convey a strong sense of place in my work, while always respecting the local culture. Sometimes my photography dwells on the smallest of details, some seemingly trivial detail from life that most people would have missed. I observe and capture things that are otherwise unimportant if they were not so beautiful on their own in that moment. I love shooting during the golden hour and chasing the light when I travel, capturing those moments when the light falls onto someone or something and creates beautiful highlights and shadows all at the same time. My favourite time of the day to shoot the landscape is during the blue hour—the period of twilight when the sun’s position below the horizon produces cool blue tones. No matter the location I may be in, I endeavour to capture moments of beauty and grace in the world.
Last year during the pandemic, I found myself a bit lost. I felt like I had lost my identity. I was a travel photographer with nowhere to go. I have long admired women who create beautiful still life photography. I decided it was the perfect time to try creating my own. I would spend several days working on each one, creating a small scene full of layers, texture and mood. I found it to be a very challenging process since, with travel photography, I am capturing something that exists. Here I was truly creating something special, and the final result felt so rewarding.
Now that the world is slowly starting to open back up, I am looking forward to travelling through France this fall for a couple of weeks, attending a workshop in Medoc, visiting the South of France and capturing more travel moments to share with the world.
To find out more about Melissa Haupt and her work, visit her Instagram.
