Decore este nome: Olivia Bee

http://www.flickr.com/photos/-oliviabee-

http://www.oliviabee.com/

Há um dia em que tropeçamos numa fotografia e temos a sorte de ela estar assinada. Como a imagem teima em não nos abandonar, pesquisamos o nome do autor para perceber se aquela imagem é regra, excepção ou só acaso. E de que imaginário prodigioso ou elaborada realidade provém. E, subitamente, descobrimos um tesouro! Imenso! Foi assim que cheguei a Olivia Bee, há um ano, talvez mais, não sei, não importa. O que importa é que depois de descoberta foi impossível largá-la (como, de resto, prova a esmagadora maioria das fotografias utilizadas desde então neste blogue).

Olívia Bee é uma menina de 16 anos, americana, ruiva, de fisionomia frágil, oscila entre a boneca de trapos e a fada de plumas - e tem uma sensibilidade absolutamente invulgar. Criou um diário fotográfico para documentar a fase da vida que quase todos, quando por lá passámos, quisemos esconder ou esquecer depressa. Olivia Bee transformou a adolescência numa coisa brutalmente poética. É um hino à vida simples.

O aviso que fez à navegação:

Dear everyone,

i'm really sorry if you hate my photos, think i'm depressed or overreacting. i'm a teenager of course i have hormones, i'm going to cry about stupid things, overreact when something minor happens...everything seems like the end of the world when you're 15. these photos are for me, i'm going to express what's going on in my heart this way. i apologize if i was ever rude to you, or if you think that my photos are going downhill. but why should you care if i'm getting worse? these pictures are my memories and my feelings and they are here if you want to view them, but if not that's ok too. i don't know if that completely says what i wanted to say...but thought i'd throw it out there.

by the way...you, if you're reading this which you probably aren't...please don't throw away my paintings. and i miss you but i'll be fine.

E uma entrevista, cheia de contradições, como só a adolescência pode ter. Onde mais, se não na adolescência, poderia misturar-se o suícidio musicado de Elliott Smith com a espuma dos dias da Vogue?

Favorite song to shoot to?
Anything by Van Morrison or Elliott Smith.

What has changed in your photography since you began?
Now, photography is my emotional outlet. My work has also become more candid. Right now I’m all about documenting my teenage years.

What age did you begin, and what sparked your interest in photography?
In 6th grade I took a class by accident, and at first I didn’t love it. But after a while my interest strengthened and last summer it became my emotional outlet and then even more this winter when I was having a hard time dealing with things.

How did you meet your current love interest?
Well, you know we were both in the forest deep at night and all the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see this light-saber and realize that there is a very cute boy attached. Then a bear tried to eat me but he beat it up for me. Love!

Any dangerous situations you’ve been in while photographing?
Standing on my tiptoes and doing ballet poses on the top of cliffs near the edge… going outside when it was 12 degrees in minimal clothing (even without shoes), falling in thorns a lot… being caught by the police when I was in the park far after curfew…

If any fashion magazine were to knock at your door, which would you pray did it first?
Teen Vogue!

Ever traveled out of Portland to shoot? Another country?
Well I’ve traveled out of Portland for other reasons and then shot there. I make do with what I’ve got.

Lens of choice?
Any of the vintage Pentax lenses are pure gold. Olympus used to make gorgeous ones too.

If you could place yourself in the upcoming Spike Jonze movie “Where The Wild things Are”, and could go to any environment and/or scene, from what you’ve seen in the previews or read from the book, where would you go?
I’d definitely go party it up with the monsters.

Ever heard of the Boards Of Canada? Their music reminds me of a certain aesthetic you have; though theirs captures childhood not as it’s lived but as grown-ups remember it, at least those of us with less-than-fond recollections.
I love them.

Last album listened to?
The best of Al Green.

Lastly, when, and if, the world listens to your voice in a larger way than you ever imagined, what will you, through your photographs, want to say?
Everything I say through my photos now. It’s different for almost every one, but the world should be able to make art what they want it to be. People are free to interpret my work as they wish. Art isn’t all about the maker, it’s also about the viewer.