"There are no ideas that are not connected with personal experience, desires and fears" Roger Weiss interview

© Roger Weiss
— Your project Human Dilatations distorts the proportions of the human body. It looks incredible visually — it is impossible to take your eyes off it. What is the ideological side?
Human Dilatations is a modern person who is deprived of two things: physical perfection and the power of thought. Each image is a body which proportions are distorted, and it dominates the head (mind, thoughts), which is almost absent.
It all has started with the fact that the image of a modern woman was reduced to a template, a combination of codes and models that show a person, and not vice versa. Human Dilatations is not afraid to demonstrate the flaws and imperfections of the body, it contributes to the female image appearing as a whole, completely breaking away from the stereotypical and hypocritical idea of beauty.
In order to do it, I have turned to the Neolithic as a starting point. The symbolism of God and the mystery of life, death and rebirth. This is a cycle, representing a large complex of symbols that survived millennia and were present even before the patriarchal religions.
© Roger Weiss
© Roger Weiss
— How did you get this idea?
— As in everything, there is not a single idea that is not related to personal experience, desires, fears that each of us experiences. Human Dilatations developed unconsciously during my studies at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. Over the years, I have formulated personal hypotheses about why I started this path, and have come to the conclusion that it was born from a particular perception of a person that has been accompanying me since I can remember. I clearly remember losing the ability to associate the functional parts of each person with aesthetically acceptable forms in my childhood. Of course, as I grew older, this impression changed, but the questions that I still try to answer remained unchanged.
— How did the collaboration with Apple happen?
— They contacted me and voiced their request.
© Roger Weiss
— Apple has your quote in which you say “The process of photo editing is difficult.” Tell us more about it.
— The project for Apple was deliberately simplified, as it was filmed entirely on the iPhone. This is a sort of Human Dilatations light version.
— When did you realize that photography would be the work of your life?
— From the very beginning, I perceived photography as a kind of mask, that allowed me to keep the right distance between me and what I have met on my way. It is like a magnifying glass aimed solely at the analysis of existential problems that are gradually getting more complicated. Over time, clients encouraged me to take photography as a job.
— What (or who) are you inspired by?
— Beauty.
© Roger Weiss
© Roger Weiss
© Roger Weiss
— How can an artist find their own unique style today?
— I think we need to analyze the art of people that was before us. It gives the opportunity to mix with their path in the dialectical vision. Of course, it can lead to the illusion of uniqueness, but it remains an ephemeral and little relevant idea in my eyes. I have never been able to and never can feel detached from what and who surrounds me.
— Finish this interview with three words, please.
— Read, think, act.