Women X Photography: Interview With Delfina Carmona

Delfina Carmona talks to us about the role of women in photography and the challenges and advices that she has acquired along her experience.

Discover the most inspiring side of photography from the point of view of her personal stories and experiences.

¡Hi Delfina! Thank you so much for coming to this talk and welcome to the Magazine. Let's start from the beginning, Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you first fell in love with photography?

I am a professional photographer and art director. I have been working in the environment for several years and it was a long journey to reach the place where I am currently. I am very happy with that. I fell in love with photography when I was a teenager, after studying many other things related to art such as theater and staging. One day I had a camera in my hands and I realized that I could express everything regarding with my feelings, all my states and thoughts in a very honest and pure way and that was all, it was the beginning and the constant pursuit.

How's life as a woman in the photography world?

Fortunately we are not at the same point we were (not long ago), I think we are winning or recovering the spaces that belong to us by right. In the past women to live from photography, as in many other disciplines, had to hide themselves under masculine pseudonyms. Nowadays the corresponding spaces are opening, women are finding a new place in the world. I can work on what I love doing, I can say that I am Delfina Carmona and I dedicate myself to photography and that is not something minor. We are empowered and in the struggle to continue conquering and obtaining equal rights in all areas.

Could you share any notable struggles or challenges you have experienced when you were still starting out? What challenges do you encounter now and how does it compare back then?

Challenges in the beginning, I think, are always the same in any artist's mind. How to find my own voice, how to express all these feelings in a photo, how I can make someone resonate and vibrate with a message through this image, how to live out of this. Today I believe that the challenges are the same, perhaps other professional issues are added, such as learning to valorate your own work, learning to put a price on what you are doing, making others understand that for much that you would like to do so, it is not possible to work just for the fun in many cases. And regarding of the creative part, try to be always active, without labeling myself and constantly creating new pieces.

Perhaps in this regard that you just mentioned about valorating and pricing your work, do you think that these artistic professions are more undervalued or is it assumed that they do not require too much effort? As you said, the concept of living for fun is more rooted, do you think that with this kind of professions the spirit of effort while enjoying your job is enhanced, making it possible to live doing what you love?

I think that many times the level of effort involved in this work can be underestimated a little like any other. Many times from the outside it can be seen as something easy, as if it is just taking some pics and that's it. But it takes a lot of personal effort, creating a piece is a whole process, the subsequent edition of the same one. For that reason it is necessary to understand that the artist must put a price for what corresponds for the work.

How do you overcome the challenges?

With honesty and respect, for me, for my work, for others. I was always very firm with my way of thinking, I am a woman with very clear ideas about many things and I usually do not give in when something gets in my mind. But I'm also perseverant with what I'm passionate about and I'm always thinking of new things to do, to create, putting new challenges before me and trying to improve myself, that's the basis of my work.

Could you share to us what motivates you to continue doing what you do?

Basically, art is my engine to be alive, taking pictures and creating universes is what I know, it is the way I find to express myself and that is the greatest motivation anyone can have for doing something.

Who do you look up to or draw strength from?

From many sources. I am inspired by light, by color, music, cinema. Words and people inspire me. I do not have specific idols, but I feel inspired every day by the work of many people, especially when it is genuine and when I can make the person behind me visible, know about what they do. The strength comes from me, from my personal story and experience, from the day-to-day experiences, the transits, the anecdotes.

Within this broad framework of possibilities where you feed your creativity, do you feel more inspired by the female image or do you think that it is not something that conditions where you put your attention when creating?

Yes absolutely. There is something very powerful and magical in the feminine that inspires and captures me completely. The strength and feminine energy are the motor of many of my images and also the woman is the main role of most of my photos, which are generally self-portraits. This is because I find it very easy to express sensations and states through my own body and my personal gestures. Many times they are quite personal concepts and even something abstract, so it is not easy to transmit it to the model so she can see it as you do. That's why I usually place myself in the center of the action, in front of and behind the camera.

Sex and gender should not be the basis of someone's place in art and photography. What would be your advice for girls and women who are still starting out in the world of photography? Do you think is a matter of gender or an individual attitude?

My advice to any girl or woman who is starting is that she can always be honest with herself. That she has to learn to love and value herself, to really want her personal creative side, to listen to herself internally and to be faithful to whatever begins to beat inside her. Do not let yourself be overwhelmed by anything or anyone, never let someone tell you that you can not do something. That the search is always individual and personal, beyond the collective influence, you have to learn to be in solitude, let yourself flow, learn to love the error, small defeats, get strong, start over. Magic exists but you have to feed it.

Lastly, what are your thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme “Balance for Better”?

I am not really sure what this Balance theme means, but if it is aimed at obtaining equal conditions and rights for women, I firmly believe that it is the right path. Equality of labor and monetary conditions, equal conditions to be able to decide on our bodies, to feel safe, to feel free, to be able to walk down the street without fear, to decide whether or not we want to be mothers, to take our rightful place in society, to stop being seen as an object of consumption constantly in the media, etc.

Yes, right, it means that there is a balance between genders in any field; social, business, labor market, in government, in terms of wealth, rights..

Would you like to add something else?

I do not think I have much to add. I appreciate the space and the possibility of showing a little of what I do and of making my voice known.

Find out more about Delfina and her work in her instagram

written by maria-lomo on 2019-03-26 #culture #news #people