BY: SAMANTHA TAPP
Magdalena Wosinska pretty much lives my dream life. The LA-based photographer resembles a modern-day hippie, travelling the world and shooting youthful, spontaneous photographs. Venturing to wherever her photography takes her, Magdalena caught my attention not only for her professional photography, but because of her Instagram. Her page shows her stripped down to her birthday suit, running in front of the lens and taking self-portraits to document her travel experiences forever.
Since Magdalena was 14 years old, she has been shooting self-portrait nudes. Depending on where in the world she is, she shoots her nudes with a tripod, by leaning the camera on a rock, or having a friend shoot it. Her Instagram is filled with photos of Magdalena traveling the world and baring it all.
“The inspiration is all about feeling free and the nude body is timeless,” she said. “You literally can’t tell the era, social class, status of someone when they strip away what can create an identity visually.”
Her photos not only make me green with jealousy and itch to get on a plane, but they capture a modern day hippie feel. They seem to provoke the same nostalgic feeling hippie, care-free photos from the 70s do, except these are modern, making them even more fascinating. Scrolling through her Instagram it appears as if Magdalena just travels as she pleases and shoots herself in her birthday suit, but much more is happening behind the scenes.
After moving to Arizona from Poland when she was nine years old, Magdalena’s photography inspiration sparked when she took an interest in her best friend’s older sister taking photos. Growing up skateboarding, she began pursuing her passion by photographing different skateboarders at the park. Fast forward a few years and she had moved to LA where she began as a photographer’s assistant, while also touring with her metal band.
She got in the habit of shooting different musicians, her friends, and her free lifestyle, choosing to shoot the wild, real and beautiful moments they shared together.
Long story short, she made it. Today she shoots everything from Complex to Ray Ban to Rolling Stone to Mercedes. Shooting advertisements and directing commercials, her professional work can be seen on her site, while her Instagram shows her personal experiences while she’s not working. She just happens to get to travel the world for her job, cue jealousy.
In a time when everyone thinks they are a photographer with their iPhones, Magdalena stands out believing in true and raw impulsive photographs. She even prefers the old school flimsy polaroids as opposed to a brand new digital camera.
“I don’t like lots of buttons, it freaks me out,” she said in a video on her site. “I just want to be able to take the picture and just go. I’m very impulsive. I don’t want to sit there and fuck with something, I want auto-exposure. I want to run around. I don’t want to look at the back of my screen.”
Next time you’re on vacation or travelling for work, take a lesson from the Magdalena experience and drop your pants for a quick picture. You may find yourself feeling like Magdalena: free.
“I would love to inspire people to be more open in nudity, sexually and to travel and learn about different cultures,” she said.
