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Leah Oates: When did you know you where an artist? I read that you began taking photographs fairly young. Did you know you were an artist then, and how has your work changed since that time? |
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The Female Gaze – Leah Oates
Leah Oates: When did you know you where an artist? I read that you began taking photographs fairly young. Did you know you were an artist then, and how has your work changed since that time?
Elinor Carucci: I was 15 when I took my father’s camera and started to photograph my mother. I have been in love with photography ever since. I think the essence of my work can be found in that first photograph that I took of my mother as she was waking up from an afternoon nap—intimacy.
LO: How do you conceptualize your images? Are they in stages or are they spontaneous? Are you in the shot most of the time? If so, are the images autobiographical because of this?
EC: They are somehow in the middle, between the two. They may be more spontaneous than staged, but still always autobiographical and true, whether staged or spontaneous. In a surprising way, sometimes the staged ones can better reflect a more complex honesty.
Additionally, I am in some of them, but it depends on what body of work you are talking about. In terms of the image Crisis, the work was taken during a very difficult time in my relationship with my husband, Eran, so I am in most of the images. In Diary of a Dancer, or in the work that I am doing with the kids now, I am only in a few images. However, the work always comes directly from my life, what I love and what I am familiar with.
LO: What is your family background? I come from a family of ex-hippies who all wanted to be artists, but who all ended up being teachers, lawyers, etc. Any artists in the family, or any creative streak?
EC: I was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel. My father was in the construction business and my mother didn’t work. But, they were loving and open in an unusual way.
LO: What goes into making a great photograph?
EC: I wish I had the answer. It’s a mystery.
LO: Who are your favorite photographers currently and who have been your favorites in the past?
EC: I love photographic work that deals with other people and/or emotions. I also love it when subject matter comes directly from a photographer’s own life—from Emmet Gowin, Nan Goldin and Sally Mann to Richard Billingham and Tierney Gearon.
LO: What makes photography a unique art medium as compared to others such as painting or sculpture?
EC: How accessible it is to everyone. This is both its strength and its weakness.
LO: Who are you favorite artists who are not photographers. Why?
EC: I love filmmakers, artists such as David Chase, Majid Majidi, Dover Koshashvili and Amos Gitai. I guess I love them for the same reasons that I respond to a certain kind of photography. I love the intensity of emotions that comes through in their work and the intimate, deep way that they portray characters and stories.
LO: Your work seems to deal with desire and passion from a female perspective. What do you think is the difference between a woman photographing herself as a sexual being and a man doing the same thing?
EC: There are differences between photographing yourself and being photographed by another person, and there are differences in the way men photograph and the way women do. When I photograph myself, I am describing a specific moment, as I am trying to tell my story from my point of view. As a woman, that’s the only point of view I have.
LO: You have twins, a boy and a girl. How has having children changed your work, if at all. I have a son and he has opened my heart but he has not changed my work, with the exception of how much free time I don’t have. I think that if you have the desire to make the work there is nothing that will block that. What has been your experience?
EC: I don’t think that anything has changed significantly. I am still very passionate about my photography and my dance (I am also a professional belly dancer). I just have to work much harder these days if I want all the sides that I have to me to be alive, and I have to put in a lot of effort to let them live.
Another thing that changed, for me, was the way I work, in terms of the children. I can’t keep lights out all the time and cameras on tripods can’t always be ready to go because of the kids. They are two and a half now, and I can’t get any corporation from them, so I had to think about other solutions, in my technique and approach. It was similar when I worked on Diary of a Dancer, the book I published last year that described three years of my life as a professional belly dancer. Again, I had to change formats, lightings and my entire approach. But I am grateful for the fact that life keeps changing and that I have different challenges that will hopefully keep me growing and learning.
LO: I always ask the same question and get different answers each time. What advice would you give emerging artist in NYC who want to show and be part of the scene?
EC: I am not sure if there are any roles to follow besides the obvious ones: work hard and be consistent and professional. The one thing I would say, for sure, as much as it sounds like a cliché, is to be yourself and not to try to cater to the art market with your work and your behavior. Eventually, it will be the right thing for your career and for you.
LO: What series, projects, shows, etc, do you have coming up?
EC: Besides working on some commercial projects, with the help of my agency, Art and Commerce, I am photographing my children, and that’s a whole new world for me to explore.
