Enlightenment
Enlightenment comes as a response to the changes occurring during 2020 and their imminent effect on the world, more precisely on individual lives around the globe. The immediate outcome resulted from the deeper look into oneself (into one’s desires and values) in an attempt to redefine the previously known. In the creative sphere, the interpretations started to emerge, offering a view on updated self-realization or an angle to perceive the occurrences.
Noy and Itamar suggest taking this time to work on improvement and development. Enlightenment is shown as a process - a narrative with the beginning, middle, and end - which represents the merge between Noy's world as a fashion designer and the world of the mythical character in the shoot.
We speak with Itamar Asher, a London-based photographer, and Noy Munis, an Israeli costume and fashion designer and a character in the shoot to dive deeper into the mysterious world that was created. We move from discussing the pandemic to Itamar’s choice to use distortion methods (rather than digital editing) to the creation of Noy’s universe. Itamar discloses the approach to setting up this world in motion, “I aimed to create a natural yet unrecognizable environment to portray Noy’s inner world, taking inspiration from Noy’s esthetics, Matisse, and Dali and integrating it into the perception of space and form.”
Photography & Art Itamar Asher Hair Erez Ivan Makeup Noy Munis Fashion Noy Munis & Loni Vintage Accessories Enbar Shetrit Talent Noy Munis Image Consultant Tal Ziv Special Thanks Omer Ga’ash
‘The isolation from society and life commitments allows us to develop our own universe, run by our rules and esthetics.’
-— Itamar Asher
In this story, you created a mystical world guided by its own rules and logic. The character is an organic inhabitant in this universe. From the inside, from the unconscious, to the recreation of reality: how is this challenge manifested through the visual representation in the shoot?
Itamar: We are in times of great change that affect every part of the world. The isolation from society and life commitments allows us to develop our own universe, run by our rules and esthetics. We also got a unique opportunity to stop and look into ourselves, very neutrally, to break free from what we were held back by.
As a photographer, it wasn’t easy to capture Noy’s world. I started by defining every scene in the development process of her character. The first and most important was the composition of every stage. Beginning with an almost 'forced' closed body to spreading and taking over, to taking a step backward and witnessing what was occurring. The set was also a crucial part of the shoot. When working on it, I aimed to create a natural yet unrecognizable environment to portray Noy’s inner world, taking inspiration from Noy’s esthetics, Matisse, and Dali and integrating it into the perception of space and form. In my art, I tend to escape the world’s basic physics, while creating in it (without digital editing) by using different kinds of distortion methods.
‘The photoshoot took place right after the first lockdown, and Noy’s urge to express herself went all into creating this world. Building the concept and set for the shoot was a long process we started before the lockdown took hold of our freedom.’
— Itamar Asher
Some elements were incorporated to establish a world of magic like lighting in black and white imagery, forms which are present in the makeup, clothes, and accessories, the background, and of course, the cave. What is the atmosphere or the feeling you wanted to create?
Itamar: The photoshoot took place right after the first lockdown, and Noy’s urge to express herself went all into creating this world. Building the concept and set for the shoot was a long process we started before the lockdown took hold of our freedom. This turn of events is what led us to create Noy’s development in her universe.
The shoot starts with the character waking up naked, closed, and restricted. She is being exposed and viewed by an outside observer who can only perceive a distorted version of her. She finds her way out crawling, expanding, and taking over her territory. We brought her wild side out, looking for the prey like an animal, like a human that wasn’t taught society’s behavior and rules. We end the shoot with the feeling of great energy exploding from the creature, transcending, and evaporating.
Enlightenment is a collaboration with Noy Munis, a fashion designer, showcasing her work throughout the shoot. Tell about this collaboration, the choice of the pieces, and the development of the concept.
Itamar: Quite the opposite, my story with Noy began when I was the character wearing her skin. We met during her final year in the fashion school, and she chose me as one of her special characters for the final show. This experience influenced me a lot and brought us closer together to making Noy’s first personal portrait - Enlightenment. On top of this, we joined forces to produce more works together and became very good friends.
‘Living as my character in the shoot, not used to wearing the skin I created, made me realize how demanding and empowering it was.’
— Noy Munis
In a sentence, what is the sense of enlightenment?
Itamar: Light you feel without seeing.
Noy: Holding the feeling when it enters us.
What is the most memorable moment or episode from the shooting day or the preparation for it?
Noy: Living as my character in the shoot, not used to wearing the skin I created, made me realize how demanding and empowering it was. Aiming to fully embody my vision was another especially hard task. I have been backstage for so many years and was so used to it. So, to be in the front again resulted in another day of shooting. We understood that creating and capturing my world in only one day just won’t work. This became an important part of the process of shooting the editorial and allowed us to refine the shoot.
