Duration: I’ve been working as a freelance photographer for one year.

Location: Berlin, Germany.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in photography from the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund, Germany. Master of Arts in visual communication from the Berlin University of the Arts in Berlin, Germany.

Career path: Though I originally wanted to pursue a creative career, my art teacher in school thought I would be no good in the arts, and I didn’t know what to do after I graduated. So, I worked part-time at supermarkets, call centers and clothing stores until a friend connected me with an advertising photographer who needed an assistant. I ended up working as a full-time assistant for this advertising photographer in my hometown of Cologne, Germany, for two years. I then assisted an editorial photographer in Hamburg, Germany, for a few months before I left to study photography at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In between all that, I worked as a freelance assistant, and I also completed a fun traineeship once at the women’s magazine Brigitte.

Artistic influences: Lately, I have been getting inspiration from the work of painters Edward Hopper and David Hockney.

Favorite projects: A series that helps publicize an event for the Welcome Center Berlin, which helps people who have just arrived in Berlin build new lives in the city. We built a yellow room in which to photograph the models who spoke at the event. The room later worked as a setting for the immigrant women featured to talk about how they found their way to work in Berlin.

Approach: A few years ago, when I stopped using analog cameras and available light, I discovered that I was addicted to neat visual language—it gives the viewer more space to create the rest of the story. Composition, shapes, colors and cleaned-up pictures are really important to me. I use a graphic tablet and pencil to add color over my photographs, which helps me get a flat appearance. Sometimes I think of my photographs as digital paintings.

Aspirations: To work creatively for the rest of my life and earn enough money so I don’t have to worry about the future. I hope I will get more chances to take portraits of interesting and inspiring people. This is something about photography that I especially love—you get the opportunity to meet different people and places.

Philosophy: Never stop trying, and always keep your eyes open. Allow yourself some rest once in a while. In this era of social media, we are constantly overloaded with all kinds of materials.