Interview with Saskia Katharina Siebel

1. Saskia, when did you realize that photography meant something much deeper to you than simply creating beautiful pictures?

It all started with my animals. They were my first teachers. Without any prior knowledge, I simply bought a camera and started taking photos. I practiced a lot, experimented constantly, and when I look at my images from ten years ago today, I’m proud of my growth because I taught myself everything through trial and error.

Until 2018, I often thought about many of my photos: “This isn’t perfect” or “This isn’t good enough,” and I deleted so many photos of my dogs — especially of Jamaro. Until he suddenly passed away in 2018 without any warning. Since then, I’ve become terrible at deleting files, and I deeply regret that back then I not only thought those images weren’t good enough, but actually acted on those thoughts.

That was the moment I realized photography goes far beyond simply creating beautiful images.

As long as I can remember, photographs have been something incredibly important and special to me — and after Jamaro’s death, even more so. They are memories I can bring vividly back before my eyes during both joyful and painful moments. They allow me to return to a certain time and intensify my emotions. These are moments that remain forever. Through photographs, they are preserved and bloom again every time we look at them.

In the quiet moments with them, I realized how precious a single moment truly is. I wanted to preserve that connection, that feeling of unconditional love. A photograph is not just an image. It is a precious tool that allows me to bring memories and emotions back whenever I need them. It’s like a time capsule for the heart.

2. Your images feel incredibly honest and intimate. What does real emotion behind the camera mean to you?

Real emotion is unfiltered truth. Whether it’s the wild laughter of a toddler, the deep familiar gaze of a couple who have spent decades together, the profound connection between a human and their dog, or the love between siblings.

Behind the camera, it means following the energy in the room. I don’t just photograph what I see — I photograph what I feel. Because only when I open myself up will the person in front of me open up too.

Whether I photograph people or animals together with their humans, I always hope they eventually forget about me completely. I love when the pressure fades away and people begin to laugh together, cuddle, or kiss. When the dog seeks closeness to its owner, offers a paw, or when a child looks at their mother with pure admiration.

I love detail shots — hands touching, tiny gestures that capture all the love within a single frame without needing words.

3. Many people feel insecure when being photographed. How do you help them feel safe enough to let go?

I truly see the person, the family, the woman. Even before the shoot, I try to remove pressure through phone conversations and by getting to know them better. I ask what they like about themselves — and also what they don’t like.

Through my sensitivity and openness, I show people that I know these feelings and thoughts myself. Before every shoot, I’m nervous too — no matter whether I’m standing behind or in front of the camera.

Especially with women, I often experience a deep hesitation. Many tell me beforehand that they don’t feel beautiful enough, that they feel too overweight, too old, too wrinkled.

I’ve heard countless times: “There’s hardly any picture where I think I look beautiful,” or “I’m simply not photogenic.”

I take these fears and insecurities very seriously, but I reflect something different back to them — both during and after the shoot. I create a space free from judgment. I always encourage my clients to “leave their expectations in the car” and focus only on simply being present.

Once the pressure disappears, true beauty naturally comes to the surface.

So far, there hasn’t been a single woman who, while choosing her favorite images, didn’t say: “I never knew I could look this beautiful.”

That is the greatest compliment I could ever receive.

The same applies to families, couples, friends, and of course animals. We don’t have to do anything. We talk, we sit in silence, we breathe, we take breaks. I’m not just a service provider — I’m a companion. I always show myself openly and vulnerably too. When people feel accepted, they quickly realize there’s no reason to hide. It becomes a safe space where perfection simply doesn’t matter.

4. Was there ever a photoshoot or encounter that moved you emotionally in a profound way?

Honestly, many shoots move me very deeply. Due to my high sensitivity, I can feel emotional energies and pick up emotions that don’t even need to be spoken aloud. I often see sadness in people’s eyes. And these encounters are often very quiet.

Once, I accompanied someone who was grieving a major loss. There was so much pain in their eyes, but also so much love. Standing in that space and capturing that love through my lens — without trying to suppress the pain — touched me profoundly.

Very often, it’s moments with women who have hidden from every camera for years. Women carrying immense pain, struggling with depression. When they see their images afterward and tears fill their eyes because, for the first time, they truly recognize their own strength and beauty, it moves me deeply every single time.

Rainbow shoots are always emotionally challenging for me as well. These are sessions with sick dogs — young or old — who don’t have much time left. Knowing this makes every shoot incredibly special. But I stand strong behind the camera because I know how priceless these final memories will become.

I’ve also accompanied families where adult children booked a session for their elderly parents, often over 75 years old. Life can change so quickly. When I later receive a message that one of the parents passed away shortly after the shoot and my photographs were used for the funeral or memorial card, it touches me deeply. The children are endlessly grateful to have these lasting memories. It doesn’t take away the pain or make the loss easier, but these forever-preserved family photographs can one day make carrying that grief a little lighter.

5. When does a truly authentic moment happen — one that cannot be planned?

In the chaos of a family with small children or in the quiet intimacy between a person and their dog. These moments cannot be staged. They simply happen when you are patient enough to wait for them.

When control fades away and real life, real intimacy shines through. Those are the images that still give you goosebumps twenty years later.

6. What do you feel when people suddenly see themselves differently through your images?

It humbles me deeply. I get to give people a piece of their own light and essence back — something they may have forgotten in everyday life.

Especially portraying women in their strength and showing them that every wrinkle and every life experience only makes them more expressive is a true mission of the heart for me. It’s a healing process — for them and for me as well.

7. What emotions do you want your photography to give people?

I want to give people a sense of safety and the understanding that their personal story is infinitely valuable.

Whether it’s the magical first months with a baby, the deep bond between siblings, the portrait of a woman finally standing fully in her own truth, the carefree laughter with a best friend, or that quiet, profound connection to your soul dog — my images should become emotional anchors.

They should remind you who you are and who you love with all your heart whenever life outside becomes stormy again.

8. Why do vulnerability and naturalness play such an important role in your work?

Because true connection can only exist within vulnerability. There are already enough masks and filters in this world. I search for what is real and unfiltered.

For me, naturalness is the highest form of beauty. When we dare to be vulnerable, we show our true strength.

This applies equally to a woman looking back on a long life and to families in all their beautiful, chaotic, living reality. And this authenticity becomes especially visible in the deep, wordless connection between a dog and a human or a horse and a human.

Animals instantly sense our souls. They do not judge us. In their presence, we naturally let down all protective walls. And when this unconditional love and pure trust between human and animal becomes visible in an image, that is the special kind of magic I want to preserve forever.

9. How do you handle emotional moments when tears or deep memories arise during a shoot?

I hold the space for them. When memories of deceased animals or difficult times surface, that is allowed. I put the camera down and simply stay present.

These emotions are part of my clients’ stories. Often, these emotional breakthroughs create the most honest and powerful photographs we have ever taken.

10. What makes an image truly touching for you?

For me, everything that is real is touching.

When I can almost feel how soft the dog’s fur was or how tightly someone held their partner’s hand while looking at an image — that is what moves me.

A touching photograph does not need technical perfection. It needs a soul. It needs to strike something deep inside me that continues to resonate long afterward.

The visual style often contributes to that feeling too. I love black-and-white photography when it emotionally fits the moment because it reduces the image to what truly matters: pure emotion.

Especially today, I find it heartbreaking how many people create AI-generated images and artificial versions of themselves. Even when they are technically well done, I can recognize within a split second whether an image is real or not. Every artificial image lacks the most important thing: feeling.

Especially when it comes to portraits or pictures of family, children, and animals, I personally find it impossible to celebrate those artificial images. They simply aren’t real. They lack genuine emotions, emotional energy, and that beautifully imperfect quality that makes us living beings who we are.

11. In a world full of perfection and filters — why is authenticity more important today than ever before?

Because we are losing ourselves in perfection. We compare ourselves to illusions and constantly feel insufficient, not good enough.

This constant pressure to become more, achieve more, earn more, and appear perfect on the outside does not align with my worldview or my values at all — even though I personally struggle with feelings of not being good enough too, simply because I’m different from many others.

Constant judgment of other people destroys so much. Comparison kills everything positive within us.

Authenticity is the only true antidote.

To show that you are still beautiful and worthy even with wrinkles, a messy background, high sensitivity, chronic illness, mental health struggles, or tears in your eyes — that has almost become a revolutionary act today.

What we need in this world are more people who embody real humanity — and images that feel like a safe home.

12. Finally: What do you hope people feel when they look at your images?

Above all, I hope they meet themselves with love.

I do distinguish a little depending on who is looking at the images. If strangers who are not in the photographs themselves are viewing them, I hope they feel emotionally touched on a deep level. I want them to sense the genuine connection and feel inspired to gift themselves such an experience one day because they realize how healing it is for the soul to be truly seen.

And for my clients who entrusted me with their vulnerability, I hope they see these images as a priceless gift. A gift for their family, a gift for eternity, and above all, proof of their own inner strength.

I want them to see these photographs as a treasure chest of emotions and to feel how much power lies within their own naturalness.

I want them to know that exactly as they are in this very moment, they are absolutely enough — and absolutely beautiful.