| My photographic work is driven by a strong sense of narrative, often with a dark dimension. My aim is to create small stories out of the snapshots I gather from the world around me. These photographs are not staged, but are chance happenings: a little out of the ordinary, somewhat removed from reality. I like to photograph familiar places, many of them places I have known since childhood, and have photographed over many years. In this series I have created a fictional world so as to puzzle the viewer, and raise questions about the fine line between fantasy and reality. | 
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Natalia Calvocoressi
Natalia Calvocoressi, Girl in Bedroom, 2004. Courtesy of the artist.
My photographic work is driven by a strong sense of narrative, often with a dark dimension. My aim is to create small stories out of the snapshots I gather from the world around me. These photographs are not staged, but are chance happenings: a little out of the ordinary, somewhat removed from reality.
I like to photograph familiar places, many of them places I have known since childhood, and have photographed over many years. In this series I have created a fictional world so as to puzzle the viewer, and raise questions about the fine line between fantasy and reality. The characters in this series are not placed but are part of the fabric of the house. I am merely the viewer, photographing glimpses of this other world. By gathering small pockets of information, and piecing them together, I can create an ambiguous story whereby the viewer can make up their own narrative, or simply view the images as surreal situations. I have created a story around the strange goings-on in an old house, as if I have stumbled across it by accident.
In my work there is a feeling of delving back into childhood dreams, children’s fairy tales, and the stories children themselves create. My images should persuade the viewer to delve into their imaginations. Sometimes I create a blur between dreams and actuality, as if there has been an eruption of one world into the other. Children and adolescent girls add to the fairytale feel of my images, and I like to play with discrepancies of scale. Absorbed in their games and imaginations, or preoccupied with worry, they are unaware of the camera—lost in their own worlds. I like to build up an atmosphere of a place by collecting and editing the objects that attract me, like collage. By framing small parts of what I find beautiful and mysterious, I want the viewer to feel unsettled and intrigued.
