Quarantine 

 

Interview with Andrea Mete

 

During the Corona pandemic you set yourself a special project. Can you tell us about it?

The idea for these shootings came in fact about by more or less accidentally from a video chat during the last lockdown in Italy. A picture I saw during this FaceTime chat appeared so appealing to me, that I could not help but take a screenshot. The resulting image then looked so interesting that it lead to the idea to do photo shoots via FaceTime. But the given technology did not quite satisfy me as a photographer. So I broadened the approach by capturing and arranging the iPad images with a real camera afterwards.


To what extent was the shot emotionally charged differently than usual? For you as a photographer, it had been a complete reversal of the way you work. You were in your apartment in Rome, the models in remote places. You couldn't work with your camera at first and had to use other tools before. You could not actively determine the frame of the picture and had to direct the action into the frame. To what extent does this still have anything to do with the work of a photographer? And in what way does it reflect what you are normally known for?

This kind of shootings had been an opportunity for a virtual encounter of the "Third Kind" so to speak - and the only possible way to continue to work during that period. However, they also reflect that peculiar sense of intimacy of video chats, they unveil a world from a different angle. In a way, however, they also document our desire to share our emotions, which had often been tested so hard at that time. Out of this this visual experiment a universe of discoveries and a different desire for beauty emerged.

 

You said that you rearranged the results at home using photographic methods and added certain effects?

The actual duration of a shoot was a little less than 25 minutes, and the images had a new kind of randomness in the way they captured the moment or how they were constructed in several steps, because of the homemade filters that were applied and the play of light that was created by photographing the images on a video call device, instead of using screenshots. It added this precise uniqueness of the unrepeatable moment.



What were the reactions of the models you asked when you expanded the project and asked to participate?

Another element added by the specific characteristics of the other participants was the fact that the subjects discovered perspectives in their previous view of themselves and recognized themselves in new details they had never noticed before.  Ultimately, the foundation of the project was the wish to be enchanted by the creation of beauty that would enable us to overcome this difficult situation and reveal something positive, both in the people involved and in the viewer.



Were many women from different countries involved? Who were they and where had they been located?

The reactions were incredible, it was a really interesting experience to be involved in a creative process over a great distance. Everyone had their own ideas and creative contributions. In this project I made sure that the person photographed had a creative double role, like being model and creative director at the same time. 
I photographed people from the United States, Spain, Japan and Africa, about 40 shoots. It was really a beautiful project, like reading a book and traveling in your imagination.



Your photography is mainly about women and femininity. Why is that so?

My subjects are mainly female, because the female body perfectly represents my idea of beauty. Each one is different, but each one, thanks to this diversity, is unique and perfect in its uniqueness.

 

The pictures are very intimate and not every model is so open-hearted. How does it work?

Mutual trust and respect are fundamental for this project as well as for normal shootings.  It is important that I can inform myself about the model before every shooting. For me, this gives the photos an energy that touches first us and then the viewer.




I suppose you did the project because during the lockdown you didn't know how to give free rein to your creativity? What did it do for you personally?

This project meant a lot to me. I spent the quarantine alone, it was a time that made many things about myself understandable and put me in an intense, unexpected form of contact with people from all over the world, of every faith and background - all thanks to photography. 
I love to travel, and it was an opportunity to take an unusual journey where I was accompanied by people from all over the world who, by opening up to me every day, allowed me to understand and get to know sides that I had never seen before,
and to look at the world from a different angle. In a way, however, they also document our desire to share our emotions, a desire that had often been tested so hard at that time. Out of this this visual experiment, a universe of discoveries and a different desire for beauty emerged.