Interview of Fe Mitikafe by Sophie Pellegrini
Interview of Fe Mitikafe by Sophie Pellegrini
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a photographer from Italy. I am 21 years old. I love art, mirrors, and pastel colors.
When and how did you get started in photography?
When I was thirteen years old I began listening to Bjork. The first song was Bachelorette. While I was searching for info about Bjork I was struck by one photo that I particularly liked. I was curious and I searched the photographer—it was taken by Nobuyoshi Araki. I found his photo of the girl dressed in a kimono with a watermelon in her hands. It was amazing. In that moment I decided that I wanted to take photographs.
What’s the best thing about photography–what do you love about it?
When you take a photograph of an object, it loses its substance. It become lighter, and life is more bearable.
Tell us a bit about your work process.
I am inspired by photos, films, and listening to music. I don’t make an effort to create ideas, they appear to me. When I have an idea I write about it and then I draw it. I try to understand where, how, and with whom I can make it. Reality is unpredictable. Some photos develop immediately, while others take months, and others are never realized. I always leave a margin of unpredictability; I like to observe how circumstances change my ideas. I never plan things to the bitter end.
Many of your photographs feature girls and women. Why is this a subject matter you are interested in photographing?
The female body is the first thing that I learnt to be familiar with in the world. It’s a part of me; it’s what I am. I do self portraits, and I think they’re among the most important photos that I create. I wonder who I am, what photography is, and why I need it (because I really do need it); I explore these questions with my female body and female mind. Being born as a woman affects everything I do in a considerable way, every single thing I do. I am intimately woman—I can’t detach myself from my female body and I feel the need to interrogate myself about what it is through my art.
How would you describe your photography style?
I try to create a soft and delicate universe where I can disappear.
Do you do any other art forms? What are some of your other hobbies?
I write tales, poems, and thoughts. I never share them. It’s very difficult for me because they are intimate, but in the future I’d like to open myself more. Recently I’ve started doing video art, net-art, and I am learning to write music, but unfortunately I don’t think I have so much talent in that.
Where do you hope to see your artistic practice in ten years?
I’d like to create more complicated and mature projects, that at this moment for many reasons (such as financial ones), I can’t yet realize. I’d like to continue growing in photography and continue going deeper. I feel like I’ve just began a very long journey. I have so much to learn. Furthermore I would like to insert myself in an environment of creative people and collaborate to create something.
