SiP Girl Power

Remember we shared a little Spice Girls last week with the release of the LEGO Brickheadz. Well this week, we are sharing our own spicy girl power in celebration for International Women’s Day. And with this day in mind, we have a little extra post following on from the inspiring Jane Goodall that was shared earlier today.

As you know already, we are a creative collective of 9 crew members. Five very talented men Boris, Stefan, Maëlick, Chris and Julien. Plus we have 4 inspirational talented women Natasja, Suné, Jennifer and Bev.

Why Celebrate International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day aims to focus global attention on women. And its goal is to make a women’s world more diverse, show equality and help diminish discrimination.

Our international women/girl power/she/her/they within the Stuck in Plastic crew wanted to share their thoughts about the women’s world they live in and share their experiences.

They know that some women find it harder to be accepted whether it’s socially, economically, culturally or politically. So, today marks a day for celebrating all the amazing women out there. And we celebrate our own SiP Girl Power and their achievements.

Meet the Girl Power of Stuck in Plastic

Meet Natasja
@by_a.n.n.a

I’m living in the Netherlands, and working almost half of my life in a supermarket.

Designer

I got my degree in fashion and clothing. And the plan was after my education, I wanted to go to Art academy. But unfortunately that was not possible due to the home situation. My heart was with designing and being creative and that never stopped….so I did a lot of things beside my job, painting…making clothes, making things….you name it…..but the one thing I really loved was photography.

During my education I also had to do an internship and that wasn’t a hard choice.

My uncle was a professional photographer for many newspapers, police and different municipalities. And I learned a lot from him and his wife. From developing and printing, to retouching. And this was achieved in a time that what was not yet digital, so we did it by hand ( black & white photos).

After my boys were born I started more and more photographing and also with LEGO. That was because they kept making different builds but thought it was a shame to tear it down and so I started photographing the builds, so that they could see their buildings back if they wanted it.

And there started my journey with photographing the LEGO minifigs.

LEGO Master

I joined the LEGO community on SoMe and there are so many great people. But there were more men present than women. But in recent years that has been changing more and more.

When people think LEGO. It’s is still perceived more for boys than for girls. And I’m so happy that my parents bought me LEGO when I was a little girl.

When I joined the Dutch/Belgium LEGOMASTERS there were 8 couples. 16 people and of that 16 people there were only 3 women. In the second season the same, I hope that season 3 will be more girlpower. And I really hope to see a woman team like Evelien and me.

I Hope my photos to help change the view this wonderful world of the brick. And help change ways of thinking. With hope that I can be an inspiration for other girls and women in the LEGO world.
Natasja 📷

Meet Suné
@sune_shoots_toys

I’m from South Africa, but I’ve lived in South Korea for 9 years. March 9 is my “landed in Korea” anniversary.

Architectural Master and SiP Curator

I studied architecture and got my master’s at the University of Cape Town. After graduating, the plan was to come to Korea to teach English for a year or two to pay back my student loans. Because of the master’s degree, I was lucky to land a teaching position at a university. The result was that my loans got paid and I had a lot of free time to pursue many creative endeavours. In 2016, at a time when I needed to shift my focus, I started my toy photography journey.

Somewhere in 2018, an opportunity to host a toy photography exhibition crossed my path. I sent an email to the Stuck in Plastic team (whom I had only followed on Instagram at the time and didn’t know personally) asking if they wanted to exhibit in Korea. They said yes! It will forever be one of the best emails I ever sent. That’s how my connection with the crew started.

Together, we did a small exhibition in Cape Town in 2020 and that’s when I became the official Stuck in Plastic curator. I look forward to all the adventures that are lined up in the future.

Life doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes it turns out better and with more opportunities than you imagined.
Suné 📷

Meet Jennifer Jasmin
@jjk_brickphotography

I live in Cologne, Germany and I am – as we say in Cologne – a „ECHT KÖLSCH MÄDCHE“. 

Bachelor of Music

Musician / Guitarist

After graduating from high school, I began studying guitar and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music.  I work as a professional musician playing concerts and teaching guitar. Since 2020 – due to the pandemic – most of my activities shifted over to a work life online. 

Photography

I have always loved photography. And about 7 years ago I took the next step to work as a professional freelance photographer / videographer and founded my own digital media company.

Stopmotion

I am very fond of Brick Films and Stop Motion. During the last two years I had the chance to work on many interesting video projects for different companies and clients.

Follow your dreams and be yourself 

I’ve been a freelancer since the day I left school and I am happy I did choose this path. If you want to do it – you can do it. Of course it’s not always easy, but it feels good when you are able to achieve your goals.

#beyourself #encourageeachother #believeinyourself #beproud
Jennifer Jasmin 📷

Meet Beverley
@bevvypix

Hi I’m Bev and I live and work as a professional photographer in Wales, UK.

My career stretches back over 30 years. And that’s when I first picked up a film camera and decided I love taking pictures. To be able to capture memories that last a lifetime in a single frame was enduring. I worked in photo processing, developing and printing other people’s memories. I knew then I wanted to become a photographer.

But during those early years was hard to make it and the photographic industry was very male-dominated. I had to work harder to reach my own goals and to feel accepted.

Master Photographer

I attended a male-dominated Art College and I always remember. When the lecturer went around the class and asked what genre everyone wanted to work in. I heard them say, a published landscape photographer, a fashion photographer, a film photographer etc and I said a wedding photographer. I was laughed at and it was dismissed immediately.

Well that dream came true for me. And I started my own business. Still here even after Covid-19 hit the arts world badly. The rest of the students on the course, except for one or two, ended up pursuing other careers.

I am now established professional photographer. And if it wasn’t enough. I then decided to go back to University of Falmouth to study for a masters degree in photography.

Toy Photography

I started shooting toy photography in 2016 as a little bit of fun. I created bevvypix after putting away my boys Lego and finding this hair piece, it was my hair. So I changed body parts and made this inanimate object come to life.

I came across Stuck in Plastic and started joining in there yearly challenges and then I was asked by the crew, along with the other amazing ladies you read here, to become a crew member. These men have restored my faith in the fact that photography is as much a man’s world as it is a women world. We all bring something unique to an incredible community.
Bev 📷

We hope you have been Inspired 😍

So we hope that we have inspired you and given you the opportunity to know that if you follow your dreams , anything is possible. You can be anyone you want to be. If you want to become a photographer or an astronaut, an architect, a doctor, a scientist, a shop worker, a teacher, a musician or even save the world. Then if you have the passion, dedication, then dream out loud and shout it from the roof tops. Only you can make it happen and don’t be told you can’t because there is always a can in can’t.

stuckinplastic

Stuck In Plastic.

The creative collective of toy photographers.