Laurel Thoma
Interview by Lucía García Martín
Interview by Lucía García Martín
Hello Laurel, how are you today and where are you writing us back from?
Hi Basta. I’m in the Tuileries overlooking Bassin Octogonal. Lounging in those ‘green chairs’. The heats taken me out. All of us.
Who are you through your own eyes, in one sentence that couldn’t be written by anybody else and wouldn’t belong in a biography?
I would like to hear what others have to say. Mostly I give myself a lot of grace.
Your photographs often withhold the face, while photography itself is frequently associated with recognition and self-definition. Do photographs help us recognise ourselves, or do they simply create new versions of who we think we are?
What makes an image compelling isn’t who the person is, for me, not always, but how the image constructs narrative.
Have you ever felt closer to becoming something unknowable than to becoming yourself?
There’s a draw to be known. I’d like my work to known. In anonymity identity stays fluid and unforced.
What do pain, madness and sensuality have in common?
You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
What is the difference between being quiet and being silenced?
My images are often removed from online platforms or censored. This is silencing. Though the nudity in the images I would consider as ‘quiet’ because they are intentionally restrained.
What is the difference between softness and surrender?
Surrender and you’ll find softness there.
What survives when tenderness disappears?
Tender people survive differently.
Have your photographs ever clarified an emotion for you, or do they mainly reveal how little can actually be understood?
They’ve helped me feel relatable. When someone likes your pictures. That can feel like clarity. It’s connection. That’s art?
What question are you currently living with?
How can I be useful
@lauretlhoma
@luccigarcia__