Photographer Marco Sanges shoots a cinematic world of dreams and drama. Exhibited worldwide, Sange’s clients include Agent Provocateur, Vogue, Sunday Telegraph, Photo, Katalog, Dolce&Gabbana and Eyemazing. He has published three books, Circumstances, Venus, Wild, and Erotic Photography, besides winning several awards for his art films, The Best Experimental Art Film at the Open Cinema Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia 2009 and Best Art Film at the Portobello Film Festival London, UK, 2008 for the short Circumstances. Currently exhibiting at Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs at the Rotterdam Art Warehouse, Aesthetica speaks to Sanges about his unique approach to photography.
A: What was the first photograph you ever took?
MS: At an early age I worked at my uncle’s lab and I became fascinated by the craft and the process of developing and printing black and white photography. My Uncle was my first mentor and the inspiration to grab the camera and take my first shots. I started to take pictures of the cinematic Ostian seaside where Fellini and Pasolini were shooting their neorealistic films.
A: Your portraits are often imaginative and unconventional, how do you approach a portrait subject?
MS: I am thinking about the identity or the multitude of figures portrayed, large collections of human passions that are heavily tinted and sometimes grotesque and decadent. There is also an enchanting, yet dark side to the characters an intriguing depth that appears to be destined to highlight the drama of life and capture the sincerity of the journey, the scenes of intimacy that confront human vulnerability, challenging our own fragility.
A: Is there a particular type of photograph you prefer taking?
MS: I strongly believe in the immortality of film, the real essence of photography! For me the most important is to tell a narrative trough the pictures, regardless whether it’s a portrait, nude or a composition of characters.
A: What do you want your viewers to take from your photographs?
MS: I want the viewers to stop in front of my composition and start “traveling” into a mental journey, reading my characters and suggesting the story to their own interpretation. This is the significance or the advantages of the escapist nature of the photograph itself. I want the viewers to be taken by fresh impressions of scenes of dreams and fantasies, to be lured mysteriously into their own unconsciousness.
A: Your Big Scenes Series is quite theatrical, do you like to tell stories through your images?
MS: Since I remember I have been fascinated by films and I wanted my photographs to “talk” in cinematic style. I developed my style of photography based entirely on the dream imageary of an evolving multilayered story- creating a highly personal, imaginary cinema. Magnifying imagination beyond imagination, there is dedication to the often elaborate projects that are staged as a live theatrical performance
A: How do you find your film work and your photographs interact?
MS: Films are an extension of my photography.
A: What do you have planned for the future?
MS: My next exhibition is with the Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs at the Rotterdam Art Warehouse running until 10 February.
A: Are there any artists/directors/photographers that you’d love to collaborate with?
MS: My gallery of inspiration is endless, but unfortunately most of them have passed away. I find the contemporary world bland and in lack of individualism, but there are few exceptional geniuses. I would love to collaborate with Vittorio Storaro and to twist this collaboration with the involvement of one of the last surrealistic artists alive Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Marco Sanges, Until 10 February, Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs, Rotterdam Art Warehouse, Stichting Ondersteuning Culturele Initiatieven (SOCI) Postbus 1739, 3000 BS Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Credits
1. Marco Sanges © circumstances n’37
2. Marco Sanges © display
3. Marco Sanges © unespected
