Photographer Eva Napp Embraces the Excitement of the Unknown

Eva Napp is a people, lifestyle and documentary photographer currently based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Korea, she grew up in Germany and was strongly influenced by two different cultures and lifestyles. Having to balance the strict upbringing with the liberal environment, that often seemed hedonistic, had shaped Eva’s focus and formed her curiosity. She is always on the run to explore the world and never misses an opportunity to try new cuisines and chat with nice people.

What do you love about travel?

I love seeing new places, smelling new smells and I especially love trying out new food. For me the food is one of the most important things while traveling that will make me fall in love with a country or not. The excitement of the unknown is also a big part for me in traveling that I enjoy a lot.

What do you loathe about travel?

That it gives me constipation. Hahahaha. Seriously, I think I’m not the only person who has that problem and I think it’s especially so for women. I am a Vata type (Ayurveda) which is air and movement and loves traveling but too much traveling and movement will cause some discomforts. So I always have to make sure to nourish myself properly and have some kind of daily routine of keeping myself grounded while on the go, like meditation.

Do you have what is called “a travel bug”? If so, where do you dream of travelling to next?

I always have the travel bug. My motto is “Always on the run to explore the world”. The next destinations I would like to explore are Hawaii and Iceland.

What is your most memorable travel adventure?

I think if I had to chose one it would be Morocco where I went in 2007. I was lucky to find a couple online that organizes private trips. So it was my me, my husband and this young Moroccan guy in his jeep who travelled around the whole south with us for two weeks. It was very personal, he took us to his family and to this berber group who lived in a cave in the middle of nowhere. The more we got out of town the better the food got. The highlight was sleeping in the Saharan desert for one night and hiking up a really high dune at 4am in the morning to see the sunrise. It was an epic adventure.

Have you learned anything valuable during your travels? If so, can you share with others.

There is only a certain amount that you can plan ahead. You have to be open to change and go with the flow. Sometimes letting go of expectations on how things should turn out. Nowadays you can look up everything ahead and already know what you’re getting into but half the fun is exploring the unknown. I started traveling by myself in 2000 when the internet was just coming up and barely was enough for writing emails back home. It was kind of scary traveling to India by myself for example back then but also so exciting not knowing everything beforehand.

Have you ever had any travel related mishaps? If so, how did you solve them?

I actually can’t think of anything right now.

What’s the one thing you cannot go without when travelling?

My beloved Leica M Camera. It’s the best camera I have had so far. It’s small and even though it’s an expensive camera no one thinks much of it because it looks so vintage, so I feel comfortable taking it everywhere. And a map AKA iPhone. I guess your cellphone is the most important thing nowadays as it contains everything that you need in one item. And my kindle. I love reading while traveling and the convenience to having a small device for many books is incredible.

Eva
Eva Napp is a Korean-German professional photographer with MA from Central St. Martins College of Art & Design. She is currently based in Los Angeles, California. She held various exhibitions in USA, UK and Germany.