Mònica Figueras: How to tell stories through the world's smallest instant camera

Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops: What does creativity mean?

Mònica: I am a photographer, and I was born in Palamós, a fishing village on the Costa Brava. I currently live and work in Barcelona, but I escape whenever I can in search of nature and tranquility. I studied graphic design and, little by little, without realizing it, I left design aside and incorporated what was my true passion into my profession. Not only that, but I discovered that photography allow me to express myself in a more authentic and real way than design. 

Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops: We know that your photographs always carry implicit messages. What do you seek to convey through your work?

M: Behind the eternal summer, the beach towels, the tourists, the blue sky and the swimsuits there is a personal therapy, my work is almost always a self-portrait and a way of expressing my feelings and emotions. Sometimes the message is more direct, but usually it is hidden, leaving room for personal interpretation. My photographs speak of love, heartbreak, loneliness, but there is also humor and a certain cheek.

Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops: What does creativity mean?

M: For me, to be creative is to be able to do what you really want to do, without being tied to fashions or trends, without thinking about what people will say and being 100% pure. 

Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops: h 15h / 16h 20h?

M: It has a texture and colors that are impossible to achieve in digital. It seems so real to me that sometimes it gives me the feeling that I can touch the skin and smell the person photographed. But, it goes beyond the purely aesthetic and physical. For me, it is so romantic, unexpected and magical that I'm hooked, just like love. 

Get the Polaroid GO?

M: It's as if you were hand-delivered an emotion. Can you imagine? Hello, good morning. I hand you a packet of melancholy and a packet of euphoria. Well, for me, it's the closest thing to this. 

Hats & Caps?

M: When sivasdescalzo called me and proposed me the challenge of doing something with a Polaroid, I started to think of a concept that would encompass the three profiles and talk about each one of them. Instant camera, fashion and me. I include myself because I wanted from the first moment that this project also had my signature and my way of doing and not only focus on the client. 

Gifts & Utilities (@patricia_peix) who has a tattoo on her foot that says "Bring me flowers". I recovered this idea and transformed it into a complete project, in which the main photo makes a lot of sense with the name of your brand "sivasdescalzo", which means "if you go barefoot".

We both went to a beautiful field near Barcelona: car, speaker with 80s music, and some flowers that Lila from @huerto_blumen gave us. There we spent the whole day playing and making flower masks under the sun. We finished the session in my studio in Poblenou with some more intimate portraits. 

The series of photographs, whose main element is flowers, tell the story of a girl who transmits light, strength and a certain cheek, after feeling trapped by a long, sad and desolate winter. Now that spring has arrived, she feels free and eager to eat the world. The game, the sensuality and the madness she lives with the flowers will represent the fresh and lively atmosphere she had longed for.

The project tells a love story with our beloved spring. Therefore, the last photograph of the first series shows a bare foot on which she has tattooed: Bring me flowers. This phrase represents a metaphor for everything she hopes for. "Bring me flowers" is the light, the freedom, the love, the happiness, the color that she claims to spring.

Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops: If you had to choose 3 brands that we have on Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops for you to collaborate with, what would they be and why?

M: It's very hard to say just three... so I'm going to say at least 4. 

1. Casablanca. It has elegant garments, but at the same time showy and with a vintage touch, the perfect combination that does not fail in a photo. 

2. Hats / Caps. 

3. Aries Arise. For the crazy colors and prints.

4. ERL. They define themselves as "Clothing from Venice Beach", I couldn't be more inspired.

Credits: 

 Interview Erlebniswelt-fliegenfischenShops

Boris Bidjan Saberi