Welcome to White Chalet Studio

Hello. I’m Veronika and I live and work at the White Chalet, a cosy dwelling in suburban Bournemouth. It’s where I live with my husband, my two daughters and my two cats.

My passion for photography started the day my dad bought me my very first ever camera, when I was a child. By the time I was twelve years old, I even had my own darkroom to develop my photos. Well, okay, it was actually my parents’ bathroom.

I grew up in Slovakia, at the end of the Communist era. During this time, cameras were not so easy to come by. I knew neighbouring Ukraine had shops that sold Russian cameras, so, feeling adventurous one day, I cycled over the international border in search of one. When I got to the shop, I was surprised to discover the shelves were mostly empty, but, luckily, the camera I wanted was there, all alone on the shelf, waiting just for me.

While at university, I had the chance to visit Oulu in Finland on a student exchange programme, where I was given the opportunity to use a digital camera for the first time. It may seem strange now, but, back then, having the ability to view your images instantly after taking them was a real eye-opener.

This wasn’t, however, the only life-changing event that happened to me on this trip, as I also met the man who would later become my husband and the father to my two daughters. Shortly after university, we got married and went off backpacking around New Zealand.

Nine months later, my husband and I returned to Slovakia, but after several years, we decided it was time for a radical change and that’s when we took the big leap and moved to the beautiful Dorset coastal town of Bournemouth.

My photography has gone through many different stages during my life, mostly related to my travels and experiences. In the beginning, I was mostly interested in shooting landscapes, but after having children my entire perspective has changed. I now love nothing more than taking pictures of people.

I feel blessed to be living in such a wonderful place and doing what I love.