Anna Laza
© Anna Laza
Images and Text by Anna Laza
Interview by Ora Heard
“My childhood I’ve spent at my grandmother’s house in Romania, near the Carpathian Mountains. Seeing human’s strong bond with earth, observing nature, landscapes around influenced my understanding of earth beauty and mens connection with it.
“All being is something whole, indivisible. Earth, sky, plants, fruits, mountains, rivers, men, women, day, night- all merged together and flowed into each other. This process is infinite and harmonious. Men came from earth, lives on earth and will return to earth. And landscapes of earth are seen in body curves.
“Growing up I moved to live in big cities, my grandmother passed away and I felt loss of spiritual connection with nature. To reconnect I start to search the Landscapes in body in my photography.”
© Anna Laza
How did your series Metaphysical Body Landscapes come to be?
I would say that the project was born itself as a part of my personality. I love nature and I'm an empathic person who loves deep contact with people and wanted to combine these two things together. I like to observe and notice intimate details, and wanted to project microcosm and macrocosm. So that viewer will consider what part of nature or human body these photographs resemble. I wanted the viewer to feel as looking at an image from very far away or from a drone when actually it’s a close up. One of my goals was that the viewer always keeps a visual connection with nature in the project.
© Anna Laza
Were there any challenges that came up while working on this project?
Yes and multiple. Searching models with a very fair skin, keeping in mind natural landscapes and recognising them in body during the shootings, creating complicated light scheme to emphasise the skin complexion and all the body details, long post processing.. On each step were challenges to overcome. There’re more than 100 images in the project and with each image I had to increase my creativity to capture more and more complex shapes and not to repeat myself.
In my opinion Art should have several layers of perception. It should be simple and clear and surprise you the same time. So I was always keeping in mind these points: simplicity, versatility, depth of meanings, few layers of reading the project. So starting with visual aesthetics, then intellectual work in creating body/nature shapes, abstract vision of the image to emotional sphere so viewer can make an analogy that as the body is fragile and beautiful so is the nature.
© Anna Laza
Describe your creative process in one word?
Intellectual
© Anna Laza
What inspires you to pursue image-making?
Inside passion pushing me into the projects. If I don’t realise them I feel down. I wish to show in the current period who am I and what I have to give to the world. Creative process is very special, it gives so much pleasure, but often also pain. Once you taste it you want do it again.
© Anna Laza
What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?
The book “Spiral dynamics”. It’ll give you answers on where’s your place in the world in the current moment of life and who is your audience, what language they talk and what are their real needs. Very recommended to check the theory.
The last movie I liked was “Mother/Android”. Thoughts provoking and not that simple as can seem from the first sight. Oppressive atmosphere and long plans will tell more than dialogs.
© Anna Laza
What advice would you give to people just starting out in photography?
To know yourself first (spiral dynamics can help). You should understand who you are, what are your values, what subjects turn you on. Don’t lose time coping others, otherwise you will be just a replica. Try different approaches and genres and focus on what gives you goosebumps. Once you catch this subject, dig into it as hard and long as you can and it’ll be rewarded.
© Anna Laza
What is your favorite podcast to listen to?
I change them regularly, prefer listen to experts in various areas from geopolitics, sociology, psychology to history of art and medicine. Each day I like to learn something new.
© Anna Laza
How do you take your coffee?
Strong coffee, medium roast by geyser method with some cream. Twice a day.
