Window or Aisle: Lindsey Tramuta

I can stare at the picture above for hours. In fact, I’ve been doing so for a while. In the same way I kept staring and reading Lindsey’s blog ‘Lost in Cheeseland’ when I first stumble upon it few months ago. I’ve been having this love affair with the French Capital for the last year or so and every creative blog or website or an image about this city grabbed my attention almost instantly. Same with ‘Lost in Cheeseland’. So one day, I think it was sometimes after my March visit to Paris, I did my ‘Israeli thing’ and contacted Lindsey herself, showing her my latest images of her city. I also wanted to take part in her blog somehow, and Lindsey, as a smart and well experienced blogger, waited for the right moment.

Few days later she contacted me back and offered me to be a guest blogger  while she was exploring San Francisco and I jumped to the roof!

One thing led to another and I ended up in Paris in June and had the opportunity to meet the girl behind the name in person. But before I introduce you to Lindsey, I have a confession to make; If I ever thought my daily schedule is busy and hectic and I am juggling few things at the same time, that was BEFORE I met Lindsey. Not only does she hold that successful blog of hers that has a lot of avid followers, she also works for an international digital marketing and advertising agency, she is a freelance writer (her articles were published in the New York Times) and a cookie baker!

Who can beat that!?

I can’t wait to introduce you to Lindsey and hopefully next time I see her it will be longer than a glass of wine.

Thanks Lindsey!

Where are you from? Philadelphia but I’ve called Paris home for the last six years and it feels like a lifetime!

Where did you study Photography? I actually studied French and Communication. My passion for photography developed once I began blogging and realized how important strong, quality visuals were in creating a site readers would want to frequent. Content remains king but the photos go a long way in my storytelling. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by extraordinarily talented photographers who graciously helped me as I got started but I’m self-taught. A part of me wishes I had become a professional photographer – followed the necessary course of study, learned proper composition and technique – but overall it’s been a wonderful challenge to tackle it myself!

What made you want to learn it? Blogging and reading other blogs really drove my desire to learn. I found myself gravitating toward blogs with spectacular photography and realized I’d need to rise to the challenge for my own site.  Almost instantly, I started seeing my surroundings in a different light and began to appreciate the derelict as much as the divine at home  in Paris and in my travels.

If you weren’t a blogger/photographer what would you do? I already wear a number of different hats so I look at photography as an extension of the rest of my work. I work in social media for an international digital marketing and advertising agency, I’m a freelance writer and I’m a cookie baker – I co-founded an online American cookie company in Paris called Lola’s Cookies. It’s definitely tough to juggle all these passions but they seem to fit together naturally and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Where do you see your blog going next? I’m not sure, to be honest. It has been a catalyst for my writing and even my photography but that happened rather naturally over time. I try not to force anything, just wait and see where things take me and that’s the strategy I employ for the blog too.

What made you move to Paris? I moved to Paris after several stints studying abroad and after having met the Frenchman who is now my husband. I started studying French in middle school and kept with it through high school and college, never really thinking I would be able to make the jump to expat life. One fortuitous encounter changed my life and showed me what WAS possible. I didn’t necessarily foresee the challenges that awaited but I know that my resilience and work is stronger for the stones I had to doge and hoops I had to jump through to define my own place in a city fraught with talented and inspiring people.

Where do you get your inspiration from? My surroundings, books, music, friends, blogs – but all of it depends on my mood and what I’m going through in life. I tend to pick out the darker underbellies of places I visit and focus on that but sometimes it’s the most beautifully mundane spots and moments that trigger an idea.

How do you usually approach a new project?  Usually my photography projects are linked to a writing gig so first, I map out my approach and craft as much of the story as possible first and then I head out, away from the words, to see how best to incorporate photo.

What are you working on right now? I have a food writing project that will begin in July and last about 8 weeks (can’t share yet!) but the mental wheels are turning for some other stories as well- stories that will hopefully require a strong image to go with it!

Window or Aisle? Aisle ! I need to have the space to stretch out my leg and make sure I have quick access to the restroom !