I’m Marcus Møller Bitsch and I am a 22-year-old self-taught photographer born and raised in Aarhus – Denmark, where I’m also based at the moment. I just recently got signed with the Carole Lambert Agency – with representation in Paris and London, and am currently planning my move to Paris in late August.
I began photographing 4 years ago, after trying different mediums out through out the years. I took up photography, seriously, after a knee injury. Since I suddenly wasn’t capable of doing water-sports, and therefor had oceans of time (pun intended) I pursued my recently discovered passion. I began a project called “The 365 days project” right after. A project where I had to take a photograph each day for a year, this was done to pursue my new passion and learn more about the medium of photography and art world. The project was done while doing my last year at high school.
The first time photography came to my interest, was at our annual vacations to the Mediterranean Sea as kid. I needed to show what fish I saw under water – which my sceptical parents didn’t believe in, so I bought myself a disposable underwater camera to prove them wrong. Since childhood I always have loved telling stories. Though, I have never been good in expressing myself in words, especially not in written words. So it came very naturally to me that the best way to tell my stories was through the visual medium. It began as a documentary solution, but evolved into a fascination of being able to freeze and save the moment and being able to tell stories through my photos.
How would you describe the development in your photo style?
I haven’t been photographing for such a long time, so the development is very limited. The development my work has been through, has primarily been driven by a better understanding of the technical aspect as well as the thought process behind the photographs. There’s not much of an aesthetic change. Besides that, the amount of editing has been dropped substantially with the years. I’m been focusing a lot on maintaining the surrealistic feeling, but without any manipulation. This means, practically, that I’ve had to spend much more time on scene-design and prop building.
What is the wildest experience you have had with your passion so far?
I don’t know what the wildest thing I’ve done is, but to name a few “wild” things – I once put my hair on fire as a mistake doing a photo, I’ve also been laying under an iceberg for a photo, quite difficult – having in mind it was done as a self-portrait. I’ve also submitted Mt. Fuji in the offseason at night with crampons and everything to take a photo at sunrise. But… To be able of making a living from my passion must be the wildest thing to me.
Have you ever gone traveling with your photography?
I’ve always been travelling a lot, and the camera has always been an important companion. I was never the one who skipped single-classes in school. I always “saved up” absence, and went off for a few weeks at a time on different adventures. After graduating high school and finishing my 365-days-project, I began a new and even bigger project. I left my home in Denmark to begin a near yearlong journey and an even longer book-project. I wanted to write/make a photo- book about the idea of always searching for the place where the grass is greener. I stood in a situation, after graduating from high school, as many others do, where I was for the first time in my life, completely free. I wasn’t a prisoner anymore, not by the school system, not by my family. I was free to do what ever I wanted. As many other young people, I decided to go on an adventure. I didn’t have much idea about where I was going. I just wanted to get as far away as possible to take full advantages of my freedom. You always say the grass in greener on the other side, right? So what do you do, after being “locked up”? I went to Australia – the other side of the world, to begin my journey and search for this “paradise”. The book is about the journey, this search for the greener grass, the realisation of what “my paradise” is and the meeting with the different cultures and people’s. All this told through photo-series, statements and stories. I ended up living and travelling in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Myanmar and Japan. At the moment I’m back in Denmark finishing up the book-project, before heading off on new adventures.
What is your goal?
To be the best at what I’m doing, and have a good time doing it. To create beautiful content that inspires and provokes.
Do you ever feel like doing something else?
Other than photography? No, not for a way of living. If I felt like doing something else, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. I do many side projects, were I interact other interests of mine – so everything is in movement. I believe it’s very important to have other interests, besides your main focus/passion. It’s about finding balance. If you did the thing you loved the most constantly, it would end up being a flat love.
