Book by Carola Blondelli
with the collaboration of Self Self book
As difficult as it is to specifically describe my work as a photographer, I think I can start with the idea that photography for me is a completely unexpected way of expression, connection, knowledge, and introspection.
I use the term unexpected because it represents a discovery I made on my journey, unaware in my early days of what would come of it. This profession has given me the opportunity to meet people with kind and powerful souls, through whom I have been able to find insights for personal growth, work and artistic research. It is about connections, enthusiasm, common passions, coming together and creating a synergy that will give birth to a project, a story, or simply contribute to the discovery of something new that was hitherto unknown. Without these "encounters," these exchanges, the whole fortress on which my work stands would collapse. The photography that reflects me tells precisely about these encounters, tells about the spirit of people, aims to make visible the wonder of those moments, wants to get in touch with the introspective. It is therefore indispensable for me that the viewer does not welcome the vision of the image solely as aesthetically beautiful, but is able to receive the emotional part of it. The creative journey travels parallel with personal growth, every discouragement and every success enriching what I have to say. The style that defines me is artistic, authorial, mostly tangible: a woman's skin, sensual intimacy, infinite frailties, all of these are a rush of sensations on which we often dwell little. Photography teaches us this: to pause, to look inside, and I try to express this with a bold language that can challenge the viewer's sensitivity. I have always found great inspiration in the human figure, specifically in the female body, there is no known reason other than the spontaneity with which experience has led me to approach it and to draw lessons from it, such as learning to accept the uniqueness of a body that can almost never be called perfect, but that in its complexity represents the origin of life. Through the woman's body, I am able to express a message of intimacy and delicacy. Even not knowing the subjects portrayed, the observer is able to enter into full confidence with them and be aware of the harmony present during the shot. Harmony and complicity, are two fundamental elements to make an image filled with meaning that can provoke a reaction in the viewer. The look I propose is intended to be one of absolute fidelity and understanding, giving way for anyone to read its authenticity. Although post production techniques are advanced, I do not find it in any way discrediting to use them if the purpose is to enhance and not to mystify. An emotion aroused by a photograph is never a deception. Light, whether artificial or not, is a fundamental element in my research, I like to know how to use it, to study it, to dare, to create sometimes unreal but sensual points of brightness, to add value to an image through the light and colors it allows us to see. The search for light is as indispensable as the desire to upset the ordinary, to give a sense that is never banal and obvious, to observe from different points of view, to break the order, to create a new perspective, a new scheme, to undertake new challenges aware of the risk involved; in these words is the central theme of my photography, to describe with courage a reality that is not always objective without altering its value, to give back to the observer the possibility of being part of it and to welcome every feeling.
