Vaiņode artist proves: you can live off photography, but not off parental advice

Vaiņode artist Annika Mickus has proven that parents' wise advice isn't always so wise. When she wanted to study photography in Liepāja, her parents said: "You can't make money with that!" Now Annika is a photographer with an exhibition, while her pedagogy diploma sits in a drawer. As the locals say: "Parents know what's best, but children know what's good."

Annika admits that choosing pedagogy studies was as safe as Liepāja's tram system — you know it'll get somewhere, but not always where you'd like to go. She worked with children, even became teacher of the year, but realized she was approaching burnout faster than the Liepāja sun sets in the evening. "If I do something, I do it with full power," says Annika. Apparently children also do things with full power, and the result was like a meeting between two tornadoes.

Now she photographs and proves that art can indeed feed you — not just the soul, but also the wallet. But most importantly — she's happy, which in Liepāja is rarer than silence in Karosta. As one café visitor said: "Better to be a poor artist than a rich miserable person."

Annika's first photo exhibition about a woman's journey is happening at just the right time — in winter, when women need inspiration to survive the dark months. But in Liepāja we know — after every dark period comes light, you just have to wait and believe in yourself.