“We know that something has happened to us because we have pictures that prove it, and we recognise the person in the photo as ‘us’, even if it’s just a slice of time that’s frozen from a single point of view.” The Italian’s love of photography, paired with her passion for fine art, is evident in each extraordinary image. And whether she’s snapping unforgettable portraits or experimenting with mixed media, Lando’s artwork is guaranteed to provoke and inspire.
Her work will be featured at the 13th edition of Gulf Photo Plus (GPP Photo Week), which is Dubai’s premier photography centre and the region’s first, and longest running, international photography festival. “GPP Photo Week is a special event,” she explains, having participated since 2013. “Most festivals are either big trade shows where brands are trying to sell products to photographers, or a series of exhibitions and cultural events aimed towards a very narrow type of photography.”
GPP, however, unites photographers across a range of disciplines with amateur cameramen and women who are looking to develop their blossoming knowledge and skills. “At GPP I’ve seen commercial photographers, fine art photographers, and documentary photographers interact in ways that wouldn’t be possible in other situations and I think this cross-pollination is beneficial to everyone involved.”
Images courtesy of Sara Lando^
Lando learned her trade through self-proclaimed, “trial and error”. She worked as a photographer for 10 years in her hometown, near Venice, after she started to take photographs in her spare time. “At first, I was taking self-portraits because it was the easiest way to experiment with portraiture,” she explains. “It soon became a way to learn things about myself. Photography can be the best form of therapy.”
She’s thrilled to be able to mix business with pleasure. “I can use photography to work on a commercial photo shoot and then work on a personal project right afterwards. It doesn’t feel like a contradiction,” she explains. “The two worlds often collide, things I learn in my commercial work are often applied to my personal work and vice versa.”
Nonetheless, there are challenges to being a creative. “There’s a period of time, before I start [a piece], when everything is shapeless and full of potential and I have to start letting go of all the things that my piece is not going to be,” she says. “That can last weeks, even months, and can be draining. There’s always a lot of self-doubt, there’s always a moment where I feel like I might not be able to do something new ever again. At this point, I’m starting to realise that it’s just a part of my process and there’s no real way around it.”
What does she hope to achieve with her artwork? “This is a hard question to answer,” she admits. “There are the things I know I should say, about how photography allows me to show people the world through my eyes and sometimes uncover pockets of undiscovered beauty in unexpected places. But the truth is photography is an itch I can’t help but scratch. There’s something extremely selfish in the reason that compels me to be a photographer. I want to know more about who I am and how people work and a camera is like a magic key that opens door.”
GPP Photo Week 2017 will run from 10-17 February at Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz, Dubai
