There is silence in the room, shaped with wallpaper and flowered bedspreads. A young girl is quiet, no words from her mouth. Time stops. Her body is relaxed, you can’t barely see her face but her eyes show a thoughtful inner state. She seems to fade into her environment, as if she were part of the furniture.
Cristina Coral is interested in exploring through photography the language itself, but also aesthetics and her thoughts or emotions. The idea of being alone with oneself is often recognizable in her images. Cristina captures moments of silence within a mysterious and soothing environment. There is an essence of fragility that features female muses who perform the photographer’s feelings and memories.
Hello Cristina, could you introduce yourself?
I grew up in a small town on the seaside, located in the northeastern part of Italy. A few years ago I was taking pictures just for fun, and I was suddenly captured by the curiosity to explore the world of photography much more deeply. I 'm still in the process of learning and experimenting – this will likely never end.
How is it being a self-taught photographer?
I decided to do something creative and this is when I picked up a camera and started to explore just by using it. Photographing has become an imperative language for me.
What things can photography say that words cannot?
The way a picture talks is worth a thousand words, one picture can say it all. They are easier to remember and also to associate with facts. Photographs are able to capture emotions that words cannot.
Are you attempting to make some kind of self-portraits through other female figures? Why female body and details are important for you?
The complexity of the female figure is the best interpreter of feelings and of my vision, containing also the fragility and the contradictions where very often I can recognize myself.
What other impulses bring inspiration to your creativity?
My works are very often driven by the research of the beauty and aesthetics and are strongly influenced by a detailed analysis of the subject and the photographic environment.
The scenery is undoubtedly important in your pictures. Do you work with places that you find attractive for your work or do you have a preliminary idea and work on the art and design of the environment?
The spaces of my pictures contain the dimension of my thoughts. They must be almost suspended and embrace the shape, the composition and the structure of my images. Researching places is a creative act too and very often the starting point of my stories.
Your characters seem to fade into the environment. Why is this connection important?
The spaces, as in Japanese paintings, are the real protagonists of the picture, the subject is actually the background. What I try to do is leave ‘space for beauty’. A place to linger or enjoy, with a particular state of mind – the vision of compositional, decorative elements and the strong emotions may suggest contemplation and intimacy.
One of my favourite pictures is from Alternative perspective. A girl with glitter pumps and long turquoise skirt cuts diagonally a pale corridor in a very Kubrick’s one-point perspective. Could you tell me more about the picture and the image series?
Through this project I tried to alter the use of perspective, creating a different perception.
What do the fragility and solitude of your subjects hide?
My female figures are closed in their intimacy. They hide their fragility but at the same time they are present in their intimacy. The atmosphere and the emotions are moulded in the observer.
The atmosphere of your pictures reminds me of Hopper’s paintings. Is him a referent for you? What other artists inspire you?
No, artistic freedom played a fundamental role in determining my style.
How would you describe your work in three words?
Aesthetic, mysterious, dreamlike.
