Her motto is to never miss anything. And when you see the photos taken by Neus Sola, you understand what she means. An experienced photojournalist for NGOs and social movements, Neus Sola doesn't miss anything. She is covering issues of the female condition, gender diversity, ethnic minorities and migration, she photographs gypsy community in a suburb of France or transgender people in India. Her images show the differences among people, but they speak about the things that connect them the most.
I suppose that seeking to find myself in a hostile terrain makes me, in a way, undress or deconstruct myself. I have had to transcend my way of understanding the world to enter another world with completely different codes and adapt to it, says Neus Sola
Neus Sola was invited to Bucharest Photofest, but due the pandemic times, the event was rescheduled. We talk with her in the interview below about photography, resilience, humanity and magic.
How did you discover your passion for image
I've been taking photos since I was a teenager. At the age of 17 my parents gave me my first camera and since then photography has always been my favourite creative tool. I used to frequent the black and white lab although colour photography has always been my thing. I have used the camera mostly on my travels, and very little in the family environment. Actually, I hate to carry my camera with me in my daily life, on the contrary: I take my camera with me when I know that I will experience something extraordinary, out of my everyday life. Even so, I start to show a bit more of my intimacy.
Neus Sola by Vladimir Gheorghiu
I have always been a very visual person. As a child I was very observant and spent hours painting and doing handicrafts. I remember that my aunt, who has always been fond of photography, often took her Nikon with her. And I loved to see the world through the viewfinder because, in a way, it allowed me to get out of my reality and enter another dimension.
Patience and magic
It needs patience, empathy, skill and creativity. But above all, humanity. You have to be very open-minded and willing to enter the other person's world. If you succeed, magic happens.
Poupées @ Neus Sola
The causes you are most invested in
Above all, the causes of gender and identity. The fact that the world has been dominated by the colonising white man terrifies me and at least covering issues of the female condition, gender diversity or ethnic minorities helps me to accompany these realities. The theme of migration also shakes me a lot but I haven't yet tackled it on a photographic level, although I've done it on a curatorial level in the photolimo festival I coordinate on the French-Spanish border. However, I am also very attracted to myth, that is to say, to projects that contain a magical or mythological aspect linked to the beliefs of the community I am portraying, as is the case with my project Nirvan.
Nirvan @ Neus Sola
Projects that challenged you the most
For me, there have been two: firstly, the project "Poupées", which deals with the female gypsy condition in a suburb of Perpignan in France, and secondly, the project "Nirvan", about the sacred dimension of transgender people (hijras) in India. For me, carrying out these projects has been a real ordeal. But also an immense excitement. They have shaken me in such a way that they have changed me as a person. I suppose that seeking to find myself in a hostile terrain makes me, in a way, undress or deconstruct myself. They have allowed me to get to know myself better, because I have had to transcend my way of understanding the world to enter another world with completely different codes and adapt to it. For, as Dennis O'Rourke says in the film "Cannibal Tours", there is nothing so strange, in a strange land, as the strangers who come to visit it. So between two strangers who cross paths, something unexpected always happens. And that's wonderful. And that's what really hooks me about photography.
Nirvan @ Neus Sola
The idea & the interpretation
It is usually a posteriori. I always start from an idea that attracts me, but during the process of implementation, which usually lasts several months, this idea is transformed, because as I investigate the subject I discover new approaches and perspectives. Nevertheless, the initial context is still there.
Awards & festivals
Having awards on your CV always helps others to get a more professional idea of your work. However, I think that when it comes down to it, it doesn't guarantee you more work. What does count, by dint of creating a track record at festivals, awards, meetings, etc. is the network of contacts that you create along the way. By dint of moving, new opportunities appear, even the smallest movement can have a huge impact on your path. My motto is to never miss anything haha.
Poupées @ Neus Sola
The role of social media
Instagram offers a more informal way to show the photos that you like but don't fit in any project. For me, more than a window to my intimacy, it's another channel to show my way of seeing the world.
Whenever I take part in an event related to photography, apart from posting photographs taken by me that I find meaningful, I use it as a testimony. It could be a kind of visual curriculum. I think it does have an influence and that's precisely why I use it (Facebook to a lesser extent). TikTok belongs to a later generation and I don't even know how it works :p
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