A short biography

Makcik Tenny Schneider,
Born in Indonesia in 1969, I grew up in Curup, a small and still largely rural town in the highlands of South Sumatra, Indonesia.

In 1995, I quit my job at Indonesian Telecom company and moved with my Swiss husband to Switzerland where I started practicing photography as a hobby.

When the digital age came, it took me a few years to get the flavor of it. It was in 2010, when I really re-started in Jakarta, having followed my husband on his job assignment. There, I joined the large and flourishing community of fellow photographers, taking courses and attending workshops and seminars.
It brought me to a new level of my photographic skills and experience.
I also diversified my skills and interest from travel photography to other genres: Fashion-/ Wedding Photography , studio, landscape, macro, street, art, people and portraits.
However, I still consider myself a self-taught photographer.

I have also co-organized a number of photography workshops myself.
It was in Jakarta too, where I started to be known by my artist name “Makcik”.

I like to travel and my photo trips led me to a number of fascinating countries beyond Indonesia, including Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, China/Tibet, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia, Kenya, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and some European countries.

Over time, I came to enjoy travel and portrait photography more and more.
I love to photograph people; from young to old, male and female, but in particular local people from rural and remote villages.
Their traditional way of living fascinates me.

In 2014, I moved back to Europe.
I am currently living in Paris with my husband, and took up fashion and wedding photography again.
I have taken picures of a couple of newly-weds who were in Paris for their special day.
I enjoy my work in Paris. Working with, and taking photographs of happy couples brings me a special feeling and I consider it a special reward if they are satisfied with my work.