Welcome to 35mminstyle, I am a blogger and photographer who is addicted to Polaroids. 90s kid – sounds familiar? My name is Cate, I am an Italian girl with random passions. Blogging and photography though are my main ones.
The Story of the Blog 35mminstyle
Phase 1: kateidoscope
I had no idea what I was doing
I have opened this blog a long time ago but it was called kateidoscope (kate my name + kaleidoscope). I was on Blogger and I have no idea of what I was doing. Some of my first posts are so embarrassing while others are close to my heart. My experience when meeting Youtubers is quite funny. My first convention ever – so surreal.
Anyway I need to get back on point. Kateidoscope was a place where I expressed my thoughts and my style and basically where I could write in English.
Isn’t it normal?
Not really.
I live in Italy, born and raised in the Italian countryside but my love for English-speaking countries is too big. So I needed a place to feel free in doing so. And I opened the blog.
Then I also opened my Youtube Channel. I taught myself how to edit videos and I spent hours filming them and watching Youtube. Vlogs have always been my favourites. Hello Ben Brown, Zoe, Hello October, Tyler Oakley and sunbeamjess. First channels I subscribed too. The influence of them on my videos is not so subtle.
The switch happened two years ago where my passion for film photography exploded. I had no idea of what was shooting with film rolls but it was destiny.
Phase 2: 35mminstyle
I became a blogger photographer
I started shooting and experimenting with film photography so much that I wanted to share it on the blog. I wished analogue photography would be more present in the blogging world but everyone was keen on digital.
Yes, I understand it’s quicker and easier but the magic you get when waiting for your pictures to be developed is worth it all.
The strong grain and the unexpected lights infiltrations were just the best way to add photography to the blog.
So one day I thought of changing the name of the blog into my two passions: film photography (35mm) and fashion (style). As a result, is 35mminstyle.
Most of my photographs are digital but I like to give them a vintage look through Lightroom edits.
Instead, when I scan my film rolls, everything is untouched. I am so proud of my fashion shoots in analogue and excited to experiment with double exposures and soaking film.
Chicken soup? No, film soup!
My Story
Now it is time to tell my story. After I finished university in my home town in Italy – last semester was instead spent in Vermont in the US at the Liberal Arts college of Middlebury which was the best experience of my life – I only knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry. Little did I know where. Moreover, everybody was discouraging me by saying that only people with connections are able to succeed.
Well, thank you.
Milan
As usual, I didn’t listen and ended up renting a house with two friends in Milan. I lived there for one year. Milan for me was quite a nightmare, big city life is not for me.
Shopping instead was a dream.
Read about my Shopping Guide of Milan.
Anyway, there I immediately found out how difficult was to find a job or an internship. I spent days sending out CVs.
During sales campaigns, it was easy to find temporary internships of 2/3 weeks such a for the DVF – I worked there twice.
After 6 months in the city, I was accepted at Versace showroom for an internship of 6 months. I talked of this in a blog post and that job was tough.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky with my colleagues because they were very superficial and shallow. Plus I had to move house and the one I found well…
Let’s just say I met a lot of protagonists of Kafka Metamorphosis.
With this in mind, when they asked me to stay 3 more months, I kindly declined. And I went back home.
Homeware Bound
I went back home and I gave myself 6 months to make my blog my biggest revenue.
Was I insane?
No, simply a dreamer with no proper idea of what blogging meant. I was looking up at my favourite UK & US bloggers but I had no Italian support. So I started looking for any type of jobs.
In January I got an interview for a spot of travel manager or similar for Jack Harries. I took a plane, got to London, did the interview, got super excited and super motivated by talking to him and got the place back home. All in the same day.
I eventually didn’t get the job but talking with someone who understood my desire to create was fuel for my creativity.
That summer, I accepted a two-week job as an Italian leader at EF English school where I took a group of teens to Hastings, UK. What an adventure. I won’t suggest going away with EF because they aren’t organized at all but this experience made me grow a lot.
But then I was home again, jobless with a huge desire to do something. I started working on the blog a lot but I didn’t know what I was doing. Here it was still kateidoscope.
I was scared.
Of failing.
So after only 4 months not even 6, I started looking for a Master course in the UK, in Brighton to be exact. I never properly lived in the UK and that was still a big dream of mine. In the end, I got accepted to the MA Creative Media.
Brighton, UK
I stayed in Brighton one year studying for the Master and helping a local photographer, Luca Sage. He is so passionate about his work and here for the first time I witnessed film photography used for proper work.
I was in love. I knew that in my heart I wanted to find or create a job where film photography is the main core.
In fact, it was during my time in Brighton that I really learned what blogging meant. I connected with other creatives (Ines <3), I partnered with brands (Chi Chi London), collaborated (CassArt opening) and participate in the Bloggers Market.
As for Today
Brighton has a big space in my heart, it was a small town perfect for me but when I was there I realized that I needed to go back home. And this time, I needed to stay.
I immediately found a vacant spot as a photographer assistant in Slamjam e-commerce and it’s 2 years that I am working as a photographer, post-production editor and image researcher in my hometown.
Day after day though I couldn’t leave my blog and after joining Grow&Glow community, I am slowly realizing that my dream job is a photographer-blogger.
I can’t choose. I am both.
Hence why I am your Italian film photographer and blogger in love with travelling and discoveries. In this blog, I will share all my tips and experience on how-to photographs for blogging, for fashion shoots, how to blog, my mistakes and how to avoid them and share about self-care and my life.
