Get to Know Eka SetiaWati: Mother, Nurse and Amatuer Photographer

Photography integrates art and culture, creativity and imagination. As a unique language of communication and perception, it provides a broader horizon to explore the world. Read on to learn about Eka Setiawati, a young mother who has dived deep into the world of photography and drawing while using PicsArt Photo Studio.

“I love photography because I get to see the world without having to travel long distances by plane.”

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your personal background?

My name is Eka Setiawati, I am a PicsArtist and a mother of one child. I live in Indonesia, Depok. I work in the Drug Dependency Hospital located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. I never learned anything about photography or drawing.

Q. When did you start using PicsArt?

I forget exactly when I started using PicsArt. I had stopped using PicsArt for a long time. I used PicsArt initially just to add frames and other features. Then, since about 6-7 months ago, I started using PicsArt actively again.

Q. What attracted you most about using PicsArt and participating in the PicsArt community?

I learned about PicsArt editing tutorials through YouTube. Before PicsArt, my photos used to be plain and ordinary. I enjoyed “liking” the works of other PicsArtists who made pictures I admired, especially the photos of one of my friends, Sunardi (@sun58), whom I met via PicsArt. I was browsing other PicsArtists’ pics and found another artist I liked named Ririez Kelana (@ririezkelana) who also lives close to me (I love you Ririez).

It was through reading some comments between Sunardi and Ririez that I learned a lot about how to make photos into beautiful pieces of art. I also learned some interesting technical stuff like about additional Macro/Wide Lenses for Camera Phones.

Q. What kind of a camera phone do you use to create your photos?

All of the photos I share on PicsArt are made using a Samsung Galaxy FIT 5MP phone camera, of course with an additional lens to produce Macro/Wide images.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about FUNNSYFAM, what it is and how it started?

In addition to meeting Sunardi and Ririez, I also began to find other friends from Indonesia: @wiyan04, @dinodito25, @hindun31, @eclips_saga, @f4uzi, @bai_kienkoen, @handayanishu , and @wahdin. Even though they did not all live near me (Indonesia is a huge country), I felt close to them because we shared the same language.

We all respected each other’s work, and soon we created a group called FUNNZYFAM*, in which we give each other feedback and photography advice. We gathered on Facebook and WhatsApp. The FUNNZYFAM group was formed early in January 2013.  Over time, however, the group began to grow.

Then we started to edit together as a group, like for PicsArt weekend art projects, but we do it in a different way: the pictures are done by a member elected by majority vote, and we each edit the selected photo and simultaneously upload our results to PicsArt on Saturday night in Indonesia time.

I love you FUNNZYFAM, we are now great artists and all because of PicsArt.

Q. What are some of your favorite PicsArt tools to use when shooting and editing photos?

Some of my favorite tools are color adjustment, FX, Focal Zoom. I like to experiment with tools in the PicsArt menu one by one.

Q. Are there any pictures or aspects of your work as a PicsArt member that you are particularly proud of?

One of my photos made the top ten finalists for the WAPfocalzoom. The photo was My Baby Rocking the World.

Q. What are your favorite kinds of photos to take?

I love macro photos, especially taking close-ups of raindrops (http://exstiaisme.picsart.com/). I also love photos with Human Interest themes, photos of bugs, sunsets and clouds, street photography, candid photography, and many other themes.

I love photography because I get to see the world without having to travel long distances by plane. Photography is how we view the world. My dream is to have a DSLR camera hopefully.

Q. Do you have any concerns about the App/Website? Are there any aspects that could be changed or improved?

To speak honestly, I was not comfortable when someone stole and reposted one of my pics. I think its better to give a disclaimer like for instance “This is not my photo, but I like this photo and would like to share it.” I would appreciate something like that, because through PicsArt we were really made to become original artists who produce our own works. This is just my suggestion.

Q. How would you describe your experience with PicsArt overall?

PicsArt really changed my world, in addition to meeting friends who speak my native language, I have also found a lot of friends from other countries that have produced incredibly beautiful work like @mayur0712, @olasra, @mamekichi, @jjmv84, @miri-badli, and many others.

Weekly PicsArt activities and drawing challenges completely drain my mind and push me to continue working to answer the call of each challenge.

Thanks PicsArt for making me more creative in the fields of editing and photography.

*FUNNZYFAM includes all PicsArt users that tag their photos with #funnzyfam, the most active users are: @wiyan04, @dinodito25, @hindun31, @eclips_saga, @f4uzi, @bai_kienkoen, @handayanishu, @wahdin,@bluezha, @imungation, @vivilink, @bowo87, @ayarinanda, @kongtoto, @moonshena, @irfandythalib, among others.