My story

The beginning

Call me Beatrix. I am the eldest daughter of parents of the Batak tribe from Sumatera Island, Indonesia. As the eldest, I have a long name on my birth certificate. Once, I thought I would introduce all my names to the world. I did for a while…But then I decided to be called something else. An old friend called me Beatrix when I was a teenager, referring to former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and I LOVED the name. So that’s the name I’ve been using and would love you to call me.

I was born in Jakarta, on the next island of the country, Java. With both islands in my life, I was introduced to the smell of coffee very early. Thick Sumatra or Java coffee was my jam. Then, a hundred years later, I married a Swede, and coffee became an addiction. ;) I am kidding. I drink only three cups and a maximum of five cups a day.

I left the corporate world as a Human Resources Manager some years ago, not because I hated it or wanted my freedom like everyone else or what I like to think of myself, but because it was TIME. This was not easy. When I moved to Sweden, I received an offer to work in BALI and another offer to work remotely from Sweden with a head office in LONDON. Those two offers were great, especially the last one, because I was already in Europe. But I knew I would regret it if I didn’t follow my gut. And I fear regret, especially with that strong gut feeling. So, I closed that chapter of my life and turned a new one.

The fun facts

I’ve been living in this world for 49 years. I’ve travelled to more than 40 countries on all six continents, worked and lived in Indonesia and Hong Kong for two years /and commuted to India and Beijing for some time, India for five years, Australia for one year, and China and Shanghai for two years. I was also stationed in South Korea for a short three months. Even now, I am still amazed by the opportunity I got. It was tiring and stressful sometimes, but I am grateful for the experience. I grew a lot and learned a lot from the people around me.

Bread, cakes, and pastries are my main weaknesses. I don’t know how to deal with them, but they go so well with my coffee.

Plants died in my hand, house plants especially. A friend suggested I write a book titled “How Not to Garden” , and I have enough pages to write that. I can assure you that ;)

The brand photography journey

I discovered photography during the corporate years and became increasingly curious about it after one of my travel photos was chosen as one of the winners of one of National Geographic's assignments and then got published the following year in one of National Geographic's books, “YourShot”, with a National Geographic photographer commenting on it. I slept with the book for many days. Can you imagine how thrilled I was? That was ten years ago. I’ve taken courses, taught myself, and taken many photos since then, and I have changed my interests in photography from nature, travel, and selling prints to now portraits. Since last year, I specifically focused on branding portraits.

Branding was not a new concept to me. I worked in International Human Resources at a big fashion company and then a tech startup, and I was involved in the company's business. Around 2017, branding became even more important as a strategy.

All those corporate years working with talents and professionals from different cultures, with different values and languages, supporting their careers, giving advice, and learning together have brought me here.

My life now

I now live with my husband in Sweden in a little city called Uppsala. I work for myself as a brand photographer. I help small business owners, creatives, and change-makers tell their brand stories. My clients are primarily in Stockholm and Europe, but I’d love to photograph more clients here in Uppsala.

I don’t have a crystal bowl to know where this will take me, but I’ve been learning a lot and growing so much as a person, especially these last few months. As if all the learnings come to this one point of clarity—the clarity that I CREATE MY LIFE, and nobody else can do it for me but me. So, my goal is to do that for the rest of my life. I hope I can continue doing that. I wake up daily knowing I create beautiful, meaningful, and powerful images with you.

I’d love to hear your life story, especially the turning points of your life or the fun facts. Would you mind sharing them?

x,
Beatrix