BARBARA MARTENS IS A COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, SPECIALIZED IN INTERIORS AND FINE ART, WHO HAS A PASSION FOR CREATING STAND-OUT IMAGES THAT REFLECT REAL LIFE REALITY.
GETTING TO KNOW THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CAMERA
Born in the Netherlands, Barbara became a hairstylist and, at the age of 21, opened her own salon in the town where she lived. To keep up with her profession, she visited hair shows, expos, and conferences, and it was at one of these where she started to take pictures of the models, mainly to copy the hairstyles. She developed an exquisite eye for detail, which not only helped her in her work as a hairstylist but was a tremendous advantage later on when she became a photographer.
Loving taking pictures and wanting to improve, in 1990 she went back to college to study photography. Soon she converted her bathroom into a darkroom and developed poster-size images of her customers’ hairstyles to put on display in her salon.
Her hair salon became a photo studio in the evening hours, where she invited fellow camera club members to take images of her customers and practice the art of portrait photography. Her customers got their hair done for free in return for modeling, and enduring friendships were established which are cherished to this day. She recalls these evenings as the most fun in her life!
And then things changed.
In 2000, her husband was asked to work on a three-year project in Boston, Massachusetts. Although she loved her little business and everything that came with it, she also loved adventure. She sold her hair salon, and they packed up and moved to the United States of America, just like that!
Her visa didn’t allow her to work, and it was the perfect time to learn how to get on the digital bandwagon. She bought her first digital camera and a computer and went back to school to learn about the digital world. She found a position in a camera store in Quincy, where she worked for free a couple days a week, in return for being allowed to develop and print her own images.
After two years in the United States, her husband's employer wanted him back in Europe, and they moved to Brussels, Belgium. But something was not right: They both had fallen in love with a country and its people and were "homesick" for the US.
Long story short, after a year and a half in Brussels, they were able to move back to the US and, after waiting for many years, in 2016, the same year they bought an apartment in New Jersey, she finally received her green card.
Being the entrepreneur that she is, she founded PHOTOBIZNIZ LLC, and it didn’t take long for customers to find her.
Although she's only been in business officially for a few years, she has more than 30 years’ experience in photography and through her former job developed an excellent style and eye for color, light, and detail.