Ximena Morfín

Versión en español

Ximena Morfín | Ciudad de México

Result of the workshop ¨Luz Natural, fotografía de moda¨ given by Carlos Somonte of the Fundación Pedro Meyer November 2012

Ximena Morfín (Mexico City) has been interested in photography since she was 14. Her parents worked in image management and audiovisual language, meaning that she has been in contact with this medium all her life.

A year later, in 2010, she began her studies at the Mexico City campus of the Active Photography School, from which she graduated in December 2010. Throughout her career, she has discovered that the type of photography she enjoys most is portraiture, particularly fashion portraits.

She has twice taken part in group exhibitions at the La Candela gallery, and was also part of the Active Gaze collective portrait exhibition held at the La Torre Cultural Center in 2012.

She has a diploma in Image Analysis from the course taught by Gladiola Espinoza at the Active Photography School.

Now 18, she is mainly interested in increasing her knowledge of fashion and growing in the photography sphere, as a result of which she assists Mexican photographer Ximena del Valle with advertising and artistic productions.

INTERVIEW

ZZ. Where did your interest in fashion photography come from?

X.M. Throughout my training at the Active Photography School, I developed a taste for portraits. I gradually discovered that I liked to pay attention to simple elements and details, to create precise compositions. Later on I discovered Patrick Demarchelier, a pillar of fashion photography. Finally, it was thanks to Susan Sontag, in whose book On photography I found a sentence that gave a little more meaning to everything: “(...) fashion photography is based on the fact that something can be more beautiful in a photograph than in real life (…).” That was how my interest in fashion photography began.

ZZ. What was your personal experience of working with a team of stylists, wardrobe specialists and modelers to construct the scene?

X.M. I love fashion photography because it involves a lot of teamwork. I find the idea of complementing each other, each one contributing their talent, priceless. The way I see it, there is always a great deal to learn from others when you work on a production. Knowing that someone is working towards the same objective as you. As a photographer, there is nothing better than a good team.

ZZ. Do you believe that fashion photography has elements of narrative discourse?

X.M. Obviously. In my opinion, the most important thing when creating fashion photography is that it contains a story. I cannot imagine fashion photography without narrative discourse. Creating a good photograph will always be more interesting and beneficial if there is something to tell rather than simply taking photographs for the sake of it.

ZZ. How do you establish a dialogue with the subject or the photographic model?

X.M. I believe there always has to be a link between the subject and the photograph. Both are working to achieve an effective result. It is always better to work in a relaxed, trusting atmosphere, in which your model and the whole production team are striving to collaborate and work successfully. The best way to establish a dialogue with your model is to know what you want.

ZZ. Are you currently working on a particular project? Tell us about it.

X.M. Yes I am working on a photographic essay on Sigmund Freud’s book Introduction to Psychoanalysis. It involves creating portraits that reflect the most important aspects of each chapter, translating concepts into visual language. For example, for the chapter that deals with “Failed acts” I created the following image that evokes oral mistakes.