Madrid-based photographer Marta Soul is a founding member of NOPHOTO, a collective of contemporary photographers. Her projects reflect on the interplay between images and reality, as well as the mutual influence that each has on the other’s meaning. She is interested in exploring contemporary society’s determined roles for identity, sexuality, culture, and appearance.
Of this series, Idilios, she writes, ‘Idilios (Spanish lyrical word for ‘romances’ in English) shows a series of romantic recreations based on amorous experiences represented by the same woman (the artist’s alter ego) kissing different men in various places. The series is constructed in an ideal context in order to accentuate the romantic love experience. A jewellery shop, a golf course and a luxury hotel appear as appropriate sites in which to stage romance. Experiences are more intense and happiness is materialized. The kiss is the main act and the only one, a symbol of the stereotyped romantic situation. What the red-headed star of the series does is consume that moment as fully as possible.
‘The man appears as the woman’s partenaire: he is just one more element, not a co-star, and therefore he changes with the setting. The action is dehumanized to some extent by this reiteration of instants that give priority to light, luxury and form over emotions. Constant renewal seems to be the only path to reach our ideal, which is perhaps more in line with an advertising slogan than with any other belief. The reflection in this work originates in trying to understand how we integrate our emotions into a consumer lifestyle in which everything has to be attractive yet has an expiry date because there is a constant search to change for something better’.
Idilios will be on exhibition at Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles from October 29-December 24, 2011.
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