About Alkimia Studio & Me
Hola! - Mba´eichapa! I am Sonia Grütter.
Alchemy or alkimia, according to the Oxford Dictionary is …
- The branch of study and practical craft in the medieval and early Renaissance periods concerned the nature and transformation of physical substances.
- The transmutation of base metals into gold. the physical and chemical transformation of metals and other substances
- The forerunner of modern chemistry and metallurgy
My past three years felt like Alchemy … a total transformation … and the idea of Alkimia Studio was born in the middle of all that chaos.
Since I was a child I thought that cameras were “magical” … a black box that allows you to trap time into a single instant that can hardly be repeated …
I am Sonia Grutter. I was born and raised in Asuncion, Paraguay. I started photographing myself, my family, pets, and anything around me at age 12. One of my precious memories was going to develop the film at the Kodak store, waiting impatiently to see how the photos turned and holding them in my hands … little I knew how great of an impact this was going to have later in life and more when my mother allowed me to borrow her kodak Advantix 4100 for a trip.
I lived in New York City for 10 years and, with my first job there, I used that first week's pay to buy my Sony Cybershot; the camera became my friend. As a foreigner with basic English, it was hard to connect with people so I connected with my camera.
I have completed my associate´s and bachelor´s in New York and my Master's in Clinical Social Work at the University of Central Florida. I practiced Social Work for nine years until someone told me “Nobody will hire you” … I grieved my profession, but in THAT moment I knew I had to put the talent of photography into service.
I turned a negative experience into a positive one; I went to photography school in Madrid, Spain. I am an Alumni of Centro Internacional de Fotografía y Cine (EFTI) where I learned from and was influenced by photographers from different industries including fashion, photojournalism, portrait, commercial, artistic, and architecture styles.
Do you want to know a fun fact about me? … In the early 1900s, my paternal great-grandfather was one of the early photographers in Paraguay ….
Photography runs in the family … and I plan to continue in his steps.
***Currently offering headshots and portraits - all other photography services must be discussed personally***
- Gracias - Aguije - Thank you