Dora Denerak and the Unstable Image

I wanted to start with To Anna, with love (2024), which you showed in September. The work is presented as a single image broken into separate physical sections, with small gaps between them that allow air to move through the installation. How did you decide on that way of displaying the photographs?

I’m interested in large-scale photographs and in blowing things out of proportion like my face in these two-meter-tall self-portraits. At the same time, I’m interested in bringing movement into still images and finding ways for photographs to exist more like installations. These works are very personal, and the series is rooted in grief and loss. While I was making them, I felt that having these fragmented pieces of my distorted face physically moving in the air was a strong way to express what I was experiencing at that time. The movement makes the image feel less fixed and more unstable, almost as if the photograph itself is struggling to hold together.

How important is familiarity with your subject? Does your process change when you’re photographing someone you know closely versus someone you’ve just met?

I would say chemistry is what matters most to me. I’m the kind of photographer who likes to dig deep with my subjects, and I’m always interested in the character I’m photographing. For me, the photograph doesn’t happen when I press the shutter but it starts with the first “hello”. I’m quite good at reading people, so I can usually get a sense of someone very quickly and understand how to approach them. I try to create an environment where they feel comfortable enough to let something more personal or unexpected come through. That process can be different with someone I know closely versus someone I’ve just met, but familiarity itself isn’t necessarily what creates a good photograph.

When you look back at your earlier work, what do you notice you are doing differently now?

I’ve always liked improvising. Situations, locations, costumes, lights. I like having some freedom in my work to make last-minute decisions. I thought that with time I would become more rigid, more predictable, or more planned. I thought that’s what being professional meant. But with time, I’m becoming the opposite. The more question marks there are before a shoot, the more excited I get. I’m an explorer. I like raw-dogging situations. I like when external factors take over control. I think my kink is problem-solving.

What has been occupying your attention lately, creatively or otherwise?

I moved to Paris recently. I think if you’re an observer type, this city has so much to teach you. Sometimes I feel like my head is the size of a watermelon, ready to explode. It also humbles you. Paris is a hustle. Oh, to create meaningful art while surviving late-stage capitalism, fighting the patriarchy, dealing with an environmental crisis, and still trying to eat healthy. This life is not for the weak, honestly. (laughs)