“Photography has always been at the core of my expression as a human.” starts Nine to introduce herself to us and continues: “My name is Nine Folliard Monguiral, and I come from Alicante, Spain. My family originated from France, which led me to become a multicultural citizen before identifying to any nationality. In fact, this loss in identity provided me the reason why I want to document the European lifestyle, to give a sense of what it is to have a European identity. I started photography seven years ago, with my grandmother’s film camera, a Pentax kx1000. Since then I haven’t stopped experiencing the different methods that film photography could provide. Failures and accidents have constituted a decisive process of my path as a photographer. I wanted to give those photos a new life, by writing prose over them, as if the blank of an image wasn’t enough to describe a feeling. However, from incidents I’ve build my identity and aesthetic, portrays as well as architectures and citizens have become dominant in my photography.
Forming a community starts with the people you surround yourself with. Thus, this is how my path towards photography began; portraying the souls that formed me, transformed me, and inspired me to become an ever-thriving person. Presenting my friends is superposing to their original identity, a new one. Becoming Freedom, the Devil, the Beautiful or simply your assumed personality, demonstrates the capacity for individuals to interact with obscure characters that they haven’t discovered yet. Performing is showing your curiosity for others, for the world. Writing is translating the vision of your imagination in a communicative form, to be understood. Photography is rewriting the indescribable feelings that we learn to overlay and reveal that they are universally experienced.
Thus, I consider myself as an artist who tries to define the identities that will compose the 21st century, whether it be with words or photography. It is an ever-evolving continuum.”
The models in the photos are Boris Naish and Clarisse Claudel and Elise.
