By Luiza Preda Castellanos

I’ve been practicing photography for more than 15 years—as a visual artist, an art educator, but more importantly, as a slower and more reflective way of being.
For me, photography has never been just about nice-looking images. Many of my projects have been ways of exploring my identity, my life, and the world around me. During my studies at the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, my bachelor thesis focused on photography as a therapeutic and psychological tool—something that can help us process, reflect, and understand messages from our subconscious:
My relationship with photography started with a moment I still remember vividly.
In the Carpathian Mountains, everything was covered in fresh snow—silent, white, untouched. I was 11 years old, walking through that soft landscape with my 2000s Fujifilm FinePix camera in my hand, when I noticed two dark brown thistles breaking through the snow.
I was fascinated by their texture, their contrast. I tried to get closer, wanting to capture every detail—but every time I did, the image became blurry.
I didn’t understand why.
Then I noticed a small flower icon on the camera. I pressed it.
It was the Macro Mode that would allow me to open up a new world hidden just under my eyes—a small discovery that quietly shaped the way I see the world and live my life today.
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Fifteen years later, I find myself returning to that same gesture: getting closer and observing nature.
Today, I am working on a long-term macro photography project called Weather Details. I photograph the same natural site near my home in Espoo, observing how it changes through seasons, weather, and time.
I chose the closest, most familiar place in my neighbourhood. Not something spectacular, but a natural site I could return to again and again.
And each time, I kneel down.
Close to the ground. Close to the plants. Close to the Earth.
I noticed many times that when you kneel close to the Earth, something shifts. I begin to hear different sounds, discover different life forms – and oh, how much I love the smell of the wet soil! I often spend 10 or 15 minutes with a single plant. No pressure, no expectations—just observing, exploring, discovering what is usually unseen.
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Between 2024-2025, I had collected over 70,000 photographs from that same meadow.
In time, something even more interesting happened.
My curiosity slowly expanded beyond photography. I became interested in the plants I was photographing—I wanted to know their names, I started to learn about their unique cycles and to understand their behaviour. I started also a new hobby that I fell in love with: gardening. I also started to pick some of the specimens of the plants I was finding in the meadow and create a small botanical art collection as a parallel project. I even got courageous and interested in how I can grow my own food and started to grow broccoli sprouts in my apartment.
All of this came from the same place: a slowing down dictated naturally by my camera and this long-term project.
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Now, in 2026, as the project comes to an end and I prepare to move again, I find myself reflecting on what this process has taught me.
Returning to the same place, again and again, changed the way I see—not just as an artist, but as a person.
Photography became more than an act of capturing nice-looking nature images. It became a way of practicing presence and connection with nature and with my inner self – Not by forcing mindfulness into my life, but by paying closer attention to what’s happening inside and out of my body and translating that into photograph.
If I would have one thing to share with others would be this: You don’t need a special place. You don’t need perfect conditions. It can be as simple as a 15-minute photo walk around your neighbourhood, with a camera in your hand. That short walk can change your day. And if you can return to it—again and again—it can slowly change your life.
Explore more of my work at www.luizapreda.com
If you want to see more calming close-ups from Weather Details project, visit https://creativeharmony.art/art-portfolio/weatherdetails
For collaboration inquires write to: creativeharmonywithluiza@gmail.com

– Luiza Preda