Flipping through old family photo books
The journey that starts from the self and extends to the external, to the environment and people inhabiting it, is what makes Andrea Urbez's work unique. The research of nature through observation and meticulous work in the darkroom, to get the final tones that will convey a precise feeling, is gradually transformed to the research of the human. Old images of her nuclear family and their life occurrences become the main connecting thread that drives Andrea's self-discovery.
Creating a series for her university project about the way the child copes with Cleft lip condition, Andrea explores through the experiences of others the perception of herself today compared to when she was a kid. Today, Andrea continues to explore personal traits through casting direction and photography.
Andrea Urbez is a Spanish photographer from Madrid who currently lives and works in the UK. We decided to speak with Andrea and discuss her experience moving to a new environment, changing dramatically the landscape she is so familiar with. Andrea describes her work as “intimate, nostalgic, celebratory, and ambiguous." We speak about the impact of the color on the emotion conveyed and her recent decision to move to black and white photography. Andrea emphasizes her interest in portraying nature and her fascination with the beauty of it. We finish the conversation with Andrea’s plans for 2021 to focus more on fashion and casting.
‘It was titled Cleft, and it documented the similarities between scars on humans and scars in nature. This helped me visualize in a clear way and relativize my birth defect.’
A Personal View
Nature and fruits, both from a macro and micro perspective, are elements that you come back to rediscovering, allowing the viewer to become curious about them. Could you share some details about one of your projects connected to nature? What were the points of interest you wanted to convey through photography?
One of the first projects I did for the university explored the connection between nature and humans. It was titled Cleft, and it documented the similarities between scars on humans and scars in nature. This helped me visualize in a clear way and relativize my birth defect.
‘I never shoot when I’m in Spain even though the scenery is a lot more beautiful than in London, where I shoot all the time.’
Location
At a certain point in life, you decided to move from Madrid, Spain to London. What urged you to make this decision?
I was a very bad student throughout high school. When I graduated, the only thing I was truly interested in was photography, and I really wanted to give it a shot, so I decided to move to London and start a BA in Photography.
How do you think location and the immediate environment can affect one’s style of photography and the topic they explore?
That’s a tricky question. I never shoot when I’m in Spain even though the scenery is a lot more beautiful than in London, where I shoot all the time. Maybe the fact that my surroundings don’t particularly attract me makes me think outside the box and come up with project ideas, whereas in Spain, I’m overwhelmed with the beauty around me and can’t bring myself to photograph it. However, I was recently in Madrid, and I shot two fashion series, and I loved the process.
‘I am now more interested in black and white photography since it’s something I neglected for a long time, but of course, color still plays a big part in my work.’
The Color
One of the recurrent themes in your work is color - warm and inviting. It becomes an additional character in the image, which propels sensations filled with a glowing light. What is the emotion you seek to capture? How does the process of photographing affect you?
The color in my images was definitely my main focus for a very long time. I worked on it in the darkroom every day for almost three years. However, I am now more interested in black and white photography since it’s something I neglected for a long time, but of course, color still plays a big part in my work. I think the tone of an image defines the final emotion it conveys; therefore, I am always careful when hand printing. It can be very instinctive for me, some images just call for colder tones, some call for warmer ones, although I try to keep it as natural as possible and as true to the actual colors as I can.
‘The world is so vast and beautiful, and there are so many places and people I have yet to meet. That really motivates me to continue working.’
The Drive
What is your main passion in photography, or what drives you to continue working?
The world is so vast and beautiful, and there are so many places and people I have yet to meet. That really motivates me to continue working. There's always something out there to photograph. I always think about the feeling you get when flipping through old family photo books. I am very excited to look back at my images in 50 years and re-live my life in a way through them.
Upcoming Projects
What’s the next thing we’ll see from you? What is the stage this project is in today?
I’m currently focusing on the fashion side of my work. I have always been fascinated by fashion photography, but it is something that really intimidated me. I’m now starting to be more confident, and I want to explore this a lot more. I also love casting my own models, and I have a very big archive of people I want to photograph in the future, so hopefully, I get to tick off some of them soon.
