"I like to play with the audience’s perception, so people asks himself: Is this a real place or not?" Mysterious photos of Ana Julia Gobbi from Buenos Aires

We’ve talked with designer from Buenos Aires Ana Julia Gobbi about work, photos and the capital of Argentina.

— Your Instagram says that you live in Buenos Aires. For those who have never been there, tell us about this city.

— Buenos Aires is magical city. Being from small town, discovering it is a unique feeling. Houses, people, shadows and sunsets interact with each other has an incomparable sensation. A city with a rich history and very suitable for hiking.

— All photos from your Instagram were made there?

— Yes, most of all were taken in Buenos Aires, although at the end of 2019 I went to New York and took a lot of photos there. This trip allowed me slightly change my approach, to find new forms.

— Are they staged or random?

— Most of them are made accidently. But if the shoot is not what I intended, I will edit it so that it looks the way I want. But there are very few of them, I like more random shots than staged ones.

— Tell us about the process — how you choose location, day time, processing — how does this happen?

— Locations are mostly random, it just has to inspire me. I am attracted by the idea of showing familiar views from our daily lives, but with a touch of mystery or secret. I like to play with the audience’s perception, so people asks himself: “Is this a real place or not?” If such a question arises, then I did everything right.

— Most of your photos were made at the sun rise or at the sunset and it is very stylistically sustained. How do you call such style?

— I don’t know if my style has a name, cause I am not a photographer. But if there is, I would like to know it, haha! Someone says that my style is very cinematic. I think this happens because I like to photograph at sunrise or at sunset, I am attracted by those and unusual light at this time of day.

— What kind of cameras do you use to make such photos? Which cameras do you prefer?

— The first pictures I took on the phone. I did it for several years. But eventually, I began to see that the phone does not always give the result that I would like to achieve. Now I’m shooting on the Nikon D750 and I think that it’s not so important which camera you shoot, as the way you see what surrounds you.

— Tell us 3 modern photographers who inspire you most of all.

— I like Dominik Podlipniak, Manu Casir and Chris Hytha.

Interview: Sergey Gutakovsky

Translation: Angelina Petrova

Editor: Sergey Fomkin

2020