Interview with Blogger Valeria Duque
By The Pakistani Spectator • Jun 14th, 2009 • Category: Interviews • No ResponsesWould you please tell us something about you and your site?
I was borned and I live in Colombia in South America, I’m a Veterinarian, and also a Photographer, yes I majored in both, yes I know it’s a strange combination. I worked for a year as a vet in order to pay for my photographic education in Argentina where I lived for two years. I’m currently working as a fashion and wedding photographer. I’m married to a beautiful man, and I have a cat named Frida.
My blog, the Picnic blog, started as a space to share talented people that I found on the internet, whose work I liked and admired, with my friends and family. The idea is to have a guest (designer, photographer, illustrator, artist…) every 2 weeks and I’ve been doing it for a year now. I contact the person he/she sends me images of their work along with a short text about them or what they do, and I write a personal appreciation of their work. Some time ago I changed the blog a bit and added short daily updates with interesting, beautiful or fun stuff that I find around the web in my daily blog readings. So, that’s basically it.
Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?
Yes I do, not so much for the writing part; the thing is, when you have a blog in which you review what you find online, you have to be constantly on the prawl for new guests, new images, videos, advertisings, whatever you find interesting. And for me as a photographer is a very constructive experience to be always on some sort of visual alert, looking around and plunging into what other people are doing around the world.
I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?
Well, I’ve had a couple of good friends that I meet through blogs. And every time a guest whose work I love confirms for Picnic, I’m bassically thrilled! so I guess I have memorable experiences every 2 weeks!
What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?
I’m constantly reading other blogs and commenting, it’s really important, when you read a blog, to comment, either if you agree or disagree with what you’re viewing, but always in a sensible and polite way, you have the right to disagree but that doesn’t mean you have the right to be rude. Also making sugestions, maybe you know about something you think the blogger should check out, let him/her know! it’s great to have comments and suggestions from your readers! I consider it my blogging paycheck beacuse it means that people are actually reading or viewing what you post.
What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?
I think the most innovative use of the internet in Politics is the use of web social apps such as facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc…The thing with these applications is that they allow a direct communication with voters and communties, they allow the messages to be targeted and to reach people all over the planet! Obama used Facebook and Twitter on his presidential campaign, and a lot of his supporters were internet users and felt, in a way, closer to their candidate beacuse they could read what he was up on to on the go on their social apps. I consider that revolutionary!
Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
I do, like I said before, It makes you feel that you’re closer to the person who is writing, that you have a well stablished communication channel.
What do you think sets Your site apart from others?
I really don’t know, it would have to be the fact that I make selections from a huge ammount of content and publish them based on personal taste, therefore my readers are people who appreciate the same things as I do, and are interested in what I choose to review and post.
If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?
Hard work, and just…being nice, not thinking that I’m better than anyone else.
What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
I couldn’t say I have a happiest and gloomiest moment, like most people, I have both constantly, but in retrospective, I’ve always had a good life, and most of my memories are happy ones, really happy ones, and that’s not easy considering I come from a country with a very violent conflict that is still going and that constantly breaks my heart.
If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?
Oooohh fun question!
Japan
The Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, etc)
The amazon
Japan
The Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, etc)
The amazon
What is your favorite book and why?
I change my favorite book constantly, I can tell you a few:
1.Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass by Lewis Carroll: Because of the characters, the rhyming, it’s timelesness, the story…it just works.
2. Momo by Michael Ende: Because it’s so frightenly close to reality, but still so filled with fantastic situations and so well written, I read it at least once a year.
3. The count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas: A perfect character, a perfect vengeance, a gripping story, would love to read it in french, but unfortunately I don’t speak french.
4. Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster: I basically love anything this man writes, such well chosen words, and so easy to read and plunge into.
5. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand: I haven’t finished it yet, started it two weeks ago, currently on page 400 and WOW! mindblowind writting.
1.Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass by Lewis Carroll: Because of the characters, the rhyming, it’s timelesness, the story…it just works.
2. Momo by Michael Ende: Because it’s so frightenly close to reality, but still so filled with fantastic situations and so well written, I read it at least once a year.
3. The count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas: A perfect character, a perfect vengeance, a gripping story, would love to read it in french, but unfortunately I don’t speak french.
4. Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster: I basically love anything this man writes, such well chosen words, and so easy to read and plunge into.
5. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand: I haven’t finished it yet, started it two weeks ago, currently on page 400 and WOW! mindblowind writting.
What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
The way they treat other people…it says a lot about someone if you change you countenance depending on who you’re speaking to, I don’t like people who aren’t consistent.
Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?
No, but there was this teacher who once told me that my photography was shallow, she didn’t like me very much, gave me the lowest grade in my major as a photographer.
How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
Well, I haven’t had that experience, not looking for it either, but I know that you can have a blog and that if it turns into a must read for people, companies pay you to place an advertising on your blog, such is the case of Oh Joy!, Style Bubble, or The Cherry Blossom Girl, to name a few.
Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
I wouldn’t say an AWFUL lot of time, you have to have time, yes, but each day it gets easier for you to publish and share, from your mobile phone, through social web apps, so I don’t think it’s a very time demanding activity to be a succesful blogger. And I think that if you have some extra time on your hands and you decide to use it sharing cool stuff or beautiful texts with other people, well that’s a great thing!
What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?
A big role I think, when you create a blog, you are deciding to share things about your life, your work, your taste, you name it, with other people, so you have the obligation to be open and consider what other people think, not everyone has to agree with you, but as I said before, always in a polite and sensitive way, there’s no point in insulting someone for what he/she posted, after all it’s their blog and a person hates it so much, then they shouldn’t read it!
On the other hand blogging is a great chance for meeting amazing people, in my case, very talented and nice persons who I have discovered to be as beautiful as the work they do.
On the other hand blogging is a great chance for meeting amazing people, in my case, very talented and nice persons who I have discovered to be as beautiful as the work they do.
Who are your top five favourite bloggers?
Nantaka Joy from Oh Joy, Merrillee from Mer Mag, Alix from The Cherry blosson girl, Abby from Abbytryagain, and Liniers from Cosas que te pasan si estás vivo, oh! and Alberto Montt from Dosis Diarias.
Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?
I’ve had several guests in Picnic who have gotten a lot of comments, like Luis Otero Prada, I. Anton and Monica Naranjo.
What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
I have to confess that I don’t know a lot about Pakistan, living in a third world country myself, I know how unnerving it is for people to be completely ignorant about your country, I get asked things like: Are all colombians drug dealers? do you live on trees?…and so on. I know that Pakistán is majorly a Muslim country, located in Asia, I think of Pakistan as a very traditional and cultural country, with beautiful people (and I don’t mean this just physically speaking) as is the case in most developing countries, as is the case in my own country. Maybe a place not so different from my own home, where people struggle against harsh life conditions but still manage to be happy, vibrant and kind.
Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?
mmmh, I think every person has their own feature that makes them unique, so therefore every blog is different and appeals to me for different reasons, if I had to choose, I love how Nantaka Joy from “Oh joy!” makes short posts, with little text but a lot of visual content, and the same happens with Alix from “The Cherry Blossom Girl.”
What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?
Well, where to start? the fact that things seem to work as they should on developed countries, people follow rules, and seem to live “easier” lives.
What is the future of blogging?
Oh this is just going to get bigger and bigger, it kind of scares me to think that maybe one day blogs are going to destroy printed press beacause I love magazines so much, but I’m guessing that’s where we’re heading.
You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
Well, like I said before, I’ve met a couple of good friends through the internet. In my professional life, blogging hasn’t had that much of an effect, but other internet applications such as Flickr or Issu, have, big time!
What are your future plans?
To continue to grow as a fashion photographer, and as a person, to keep up my Picnic blog, to create an independent fashion photography webzine for south american photographers (I’m currently working in this), and to never stop being curious and nosy about what other people are doing.
Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
Well, thanks for taking the time to read this interview,and you can visit me anytime you want at www.picnicblog.wordpress.com
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