While social media in general can often be cluttered and hectic, we’ve discovered a peaceful, seemingly untroubled space in Pirmin Föllmi’s (or as you may know him, @iphotography_ch) Instagram feed. We’ve had the privilege of watching his Instagram account grow - not simply numerically, but in style and quality of content. His feed has evolved in such a way that his photographs are ever-so inviting, possibly to the point of being irresistible and clearly thousands of Instagrammers have found this to be true as well. Yet Pirmin remains humble, persistent and focused on the course he has for himself.

 

 

Pirmin is incredibly friendly and down-to-earth, something that became evident very quickly during our conversations.

“My friends call me Piri. I'm 38 years old. I live with my wife and my two daughters in Switzerland near Zürich. Most of my photos are taken during walks or hikes with my family. There are many mountains and lakes nearby where I live. It’s easier for me to take landscape pictures rather than street art shots. The colors of the fields, mountains and lakes are what I enjoy capturing. I don't take pictures in black and white because colors are simply more important to me.”

 

With over 200 million users, we’ve all come to Instagram for different reasons and in different ways. For Piri, he first began to use Instagram as an editing tool.

“I started my Instagram account 4 years ago.  At first I used Instagram just to utilize the filters to share pictures on Twitter. I soon discovered that I enjoyed mobile photography. More importantly I connected and was inspired by the vast community of talented artists.”

 

As his understanding of Instagram continued to grow and his perspective of the massive online community expanded, Piri began to delve further into it.

“Instagram has become a place where I moderate for @jj__mextures among other things. It's wonderful to work with that team. I love to search through all of the great photos. Through Instagram I have found many new friends from all around the world. Some of them I have met in person.  This is always a great pleasure. Last year I had the chance to meet @wisslaren in Switzerland. It was one of my highlights of the year.”

 

With a quick scroll through his feed you’ll discover a few things that are prevalent in his photos: trees and fog. Capturing the two together - the fog curving in and out and around the trees - is something very important to him. It’s clear that, to him, these things combine to create something ethereal. Something fantastical.

“It’s a special moment. I like the atmosphere with the fog and the trees and I’ve found that the Perfect soundtrack for these pictures is ‘Enjoy the Silence’ from Depeche Mode.”

 

His use of Mextures works to enhance and sharpen his tranquil shots, often adding color and clarity to the delicate beauty that he has already captured in nature. Primarily utilizing the Landscape Enhance and Vintage Gradients packs, Piri has expertly carved out a niche of his own with a little help from Mextures.

“Using Mextures makes my images look special. It looks as if someone has illuminated the trees and the environment in the forest with large, colored spotlights. It does not always look real, but more like a fairytale landscape after the overlays are applied in Mextures.”

 

We hope that you will follow along with us as we watch Piri’s talent for capturing and editing the beautiful and undisturbed translate onto his Instagram feed.