Berenice is a conceptual artist and art director who has won the Platinum Award at the Muse Photography Awards with her photographic series called <<Gender Roars.>>
Almost all my works have a conceptual weight. I like them to have something to tell beyond the aesthetics. I use the image as a form of expression, so I try to make my pieces reflect my personal style to a certain degree. That’s why they move in cheerful palettes and fun images, it’s the tone with which I most identify. Even when it has some political or activist content, as is the case, they carry a certain dose of humor.
It was an era with markedly sexist advertising, so it’s fun to reappropriate that iconography and turn it around.
It’s a word play between Gender rules and the word roar which I think has a lot of power and another fun way to talk about gender reclamation.
After the conceptualization phase where I basically write down ideas and sketches on paper, the handmade manufacturing process begins. That includes painting backgrounds and making, buying or modifying all the elements to be photographed. Once the still life composition, lighting, etc. is done, the photograph is taken. In the case of this particular series, there is also lettering/typography work. Sometimes I print the graphic pieces and then photograph them, but in the specific case of this series they are totally integrated in post-production.
Yes, having a background as a designer and art director, I am skilled with typography and image editing. This, together with the work of constructing the images prior to shooting the photo itself, makes my work a set of stages. That’s why I don’t consider myself a photographer, although some people call me one, I find a broader term like visual artist more accurate.
To find their own style. Copying others can help you learn or explore, but you´ll only be one with your work when you find your own voice.
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