EGL Magazine
EGL Magazine
Exclusively Gothic Lifestyle
9 July 2010
Noree currently has a photography and poetry book out; 'Small Compendium for Souls', available through Blurb with the link at the top of the page. She says "I call it a romantic visual poetry book, as each poem corresponds to one photograph, together creating a fuller feeling, with a general theme of romance, feminism and rebellion." We caught up with Noree to find out a little bit more.
Mademoiselle Noree: Artist and Muse
Noree is a romanian-born model, photographer, dancer, designer and crafter now residing in France and currently studying a BA Hons degree in Photography for Fashion and Advertising in Wales. Noree believes that photography is in her blood; her Father has a passion for photography, and it was his suggestion that she study photography at university. She says "It simply grew on me, in a natural way."
Photography began for Noree when she won a photography contest at the age of 12. The theme of the competition was 'Animals in Funny Situations', and she had a photograph of her dog 'reading' the magazine that was running the competition. The prize was a compact camera, and, finally having a camera of her own, she began taking more and more photographs.
At the age of 17 she received her first DSLR, taking photography from being a hobby to being a professional ambition. But photography is not the only way Noree enjoys expressing her creativity; her Deviant Art profile states "I like to be behind the camera, but also in front of it." But photography and modelling is just the tip of Noree's creative iceberg.
Noree enjoys literature and writes poems in both English and Romanian, she has also started work on a novel. She makes her own clothes and accessories, she sings and she also dances. She does ballet as a personal pleasure, and bellydancing as a more professional one, and was part of the Snake Charmer group started by a Romanian friend.
What was the inspiration behind 'Small Compendium for Souls'?
It was done in reaction to the failure of my first love story, a relationship of almost 2 and a half years that had started beautifully but ended very badly. It is about the struggle to keep my innocence intact when my heart was shattered and the knowledge that I am growing up and that I have to become strong. It is not a big book, but it is very refreshing, as the word goes: 'Strong essences come in small bottles'.
How do you balance all of your various creative passions with each other and your studies?
It depends on the time of the year. During school, the studying and completing of the assignments comes first, but it does leave plenty of time for my other passions, especially if I finish my school work in a timely manner, I can enjoy a bit of freedom until the next assignment. The only hobby that had to suffer during my first year of university was the clothing and accessory designing, as my sewing machine had to stay in Romania and I didn't have access to one in UK or France. So now I've got my head full of designs that have to wait until August when I'll be reunited with my lovely sewing machine. Quite obviously, the summer break is when I enjoy myself the fullest, having all the time I need for my personal projects. And then it's pretty much a bit of this today, a bit of that tomorrow. My way of working may seem chaotic and unorganized, but it's exactly that asymmetry and time span that helps my ideas to grow and to brew into something real.
How have your different interests influenced, inspired and helped one another?
The strongest relationship has been between photography and modeling. Many times I'd test new techniques on myself or if I wanted to shoot but had no model available, I'd model myself, make some self-portraits. It helped me both ways because when I work with a model I know how she/he feels having a camera pointed at her/him and trying to get the right pose so I can direct them better, as to when I work with a photographer, I already know pretty much what the angle is going to be, the approximate crop depending on the quality of the light, so it makes it much easier to work together towards 'that' picture.
Dancing has also helped, making my body stronger and more flexible and offering new postures to be explored. Dance stances and themes make great photographic concepts. And I was surprised when I found that my photographic knowledge also influenced the outcome of my dancing: when working on a new dance I'd imagine the atmosphere created and the best light for it, almost like a small movie in my head. I also was able to do the lighting set up for the first Snake Charmer show, using a continuous light I had in my mini studio at home and a red umbrella to give it the color tint.
What are you working on next?
My next book is going to be called 'Not Meant To Be' and it's going to contain photographs, poems and quotes of mine. It's going to be in digital format in order to make it more accessible. It's going to be larger than the Compendium and its structure will be somewhat more 'chaotic'. It will be like an insight to the secret garden of my world and of my mind. I do not know yet when it's going to be finished, because I want to take my time and make it right.
And the impact of my fashion designs has been in the freedom it gave me when making outfits that I could later use in photoshoots or for dancing - pretty much, it meant I was in charge of the whole creative process, from start to end, every detail applied by myself, so there would be no danger of misunderstanding in communication. It's also a great satisfaction when a project is finished, to know that everything in it has come from you, from your work.
Literature is probably my most independent occupation. Although photography, modeling and dancing also allow me to escape reality and be whoever I want to be, I'm still limited by certain aspects like the way I look, the shape of my face, which can only be slightly altered. In literature I can be whoever I choose to, even a man. Or a butterfly, or a star, or the wind. It's where I can escape all boundaries and all I need to create a new world is a way to lay down the words - on paper or digitally. Perhaps you could say that the relationship between my writing and my other works is that they are all somewhat influenced by my experience, my desires and my creative limits at some point, and that they all evolve with me.
What do you hope readers of 'Small Compendium for Souls' gain from it?
First of all, a moment of peace and relaxation. A moment to allow them to escape from the daily chores and problems, a moment into Catharsis. After that, it depends on each and every reader how they will perceive my words and images. I intended them to be somewhat ambiguous exactly so that different persons can draw different meanings. They are small stories that, although they seem to be of a fantasy, dreamed world, in fact are very real feelings that build and shape us and that, if we learn to identify them and to take what's beneficial from them, can become very strong allies of ours.
Article Written By...
Keller is EGL Magazine's editor. She has a degree in Writing which includes Journalism. If you would like to be featured or interviewed in EGL Magazine, just get in touch.
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