Mostly known for his amazing aerial shots of nature, the Swedish photographer and filmmaker Tobias Hägg let himself be carried with humility by the poetry of the different environments he visits and offers us to see breathtaking places all over the world from above. We’ve met him between two travels.
Which path led you to be a photographer?
The creative side of me has always been there. I have always been interested in doing something with film and photography. In the beginning, when I was around 14 years, I did short movies; my mind and heart was more into that. With time, I started creating visual effects for my films and tried to evolve my art. As with everything I’ve experimented, it comes and goes depending on how I feel and what I want to accomplish. Later, I wanted to become a journalist, or write something and try to express myself trough script. So my creative journey went deeper and deeper, and today I try to mix everything I learned over the years through film, photography and writing. I’m probably more known for my photography then I am for anything else, but I enjoy all spectrums of what I do.
And then, you started to take aerial pictures. How did it begin?
Aerial photography came into my world a couple of years ago but have always been around in my mind. I remember when I started out with film, I already was interested in aerial photography & film seeing big productions and Hollywood movies with helicopter shots but never realized that would be something I would end up doing! So basically, I was wandering around for a long time before drones came into the world thinking about compositions and how I would like to create if I ever got the chance. Then drones came, and I immediately bought myself one and tried out the ideas I always had in my mind!
How did your work evolve over the years?
My work has evolved a lot over the years and still is. Considering I am practically never satisfied with what I do, I am on a constant chase for improvement. Every day for me is a new chance to learn something new or get better. I think that is also what keeps me going.
What inspires you to create?
There’s a lot of things that inspire me. Everything from movies, books and music to ordinary things and people in my daily life. The biggest inspiration for my work is probably nature itself. Just being out there and see how the lights and the weather changes in front of your eyes is something magnificent if you learn how to appreciate it! All the beautiful things we usually take for granted.
From Scandinavia to Patagonia and California, you are such a globe-trotter! How do you choose your travels?
Haha, I don’t know but yes, I travel a lot, and it comes with the job and my passion for discovering new things. There are so many places I want to see and do before I sign out so basically, that is how I choose my travels. I go wherever I feel like going.
What’s next for you?
I got a couple of workshops with people from all over the world. So I will guide them to some of my favourite places up in Northern Norway & Sweden. Other than that, I think I’ll go back to the Dolomites in the fall to explore more that area on my own.
Follow Tobias Hägg on Instagram.
