wanderlust
The Sexy Face
Meet Lortnoc, the Berlin-based photographer whose focus falls on capturing the essence of his generation here in Berlin. Drawing influence from the likes of Helmut Newton, his cheeky, clean cut portraits ooze sexuality as nudity parades unashamedly throughout his portfolio. His website, City Burns, overflows not only with the portraiture of youthful feminity but also with the entries to his visual diary; within which we are inadvertantly given an insight into the liberal culture for which the city is so well known.
BAPS: What is your favorite kind of camera to use?
L: My favorite camera is an old Pentax with fixed 35mm lens, but I don’t always have the time and money for that film. In the majority of my work, I use a digital camera, often with flash.
BAPS: How would you describe the sexual climate of Berlin?
L: Berlin is all about youth and freedom. I’m not sure if that the sexual climate is a characteristic particular only to Berlin. Maybe the sexual climate is just what you could expect from a European global city full of young people.
L: Berlin is all about youth and freedom. I’m not sure if that the sexual climate is a characteristic particular only to Berlin. Maybe the sexual climate is just what you could expect from a European global city full of young people.
Photograph by Lortnoc from the series “She’s down on her knees again”
BAPS: Tell us a bit about your website “City Burns.”
L: City Burns started as a site where I would publish pictures of people I met, associating the persons and photos to the cities where they have been living. At that time, I was really interested in how the places could linked to their personalities. Today, I’m not sure if the inicial idea still make sense to me. Still, I still think it’s an acceptable excuse or reason for me to keep taking portraits.
L: City Burns started as a site where I would publish pictures of people I met, associating the persons and photos to the cities where they have been living. At that time, I was really interested in how the places could linked to their personalities. Today, I’m not sure if the inicial idea still make sense to me. Still, I still think it’s an acceptable excuse or reason for me to keep taking portraits.
BAPS: How do you achieve such intimacy in your photographs?
L: Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m always succeeding on that point. Photography can be a totally individualist activity, but when you do a portrait it is not anymore. In my case, I feel the confrontation between photography as an individual activity and the relation with the other person during the shot quite hard and challenging some times. It is difficult to feel totally confident, but there is not too much to do about it. It works or it does not work.
L: Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m always succeeding on that point. Photography can be a totally individualist activity, but when you do a portrait it is not anymore. In my case, I feel the confrontation between photography as an individual activity and the relation with the other person during the shot quite hard and challenging some times. It is difficult to feel totally confident, but there is not too much to do about it. It works or it does not work.
BAPS: What is it about girls and cigarettes that makes such a good picture?
L: That’s a hard question. Maybe is just Godard’s fault.. If we still would consider cigarettes a symbol of transgression, what can be better than a woman committing transgression?
L: That’s a hard question. Maybe is just Godard’s fault.. If we still would consider cigarettes a symbol of transgression, what can be better than a woman committing transgression?
BAPS: Where’s your favorite place to take pictures here in Berlin?
L: I don’t have one particular favorite place. Of course the place can be very important, but when comes to taking portrait photography the most important is in fact the person.
L: I don’t have one particular favorite place. Of course the place can be very important, but when comes to taking portrait photography the most important is in fact the person.
–
Thanks to Lortnoc for the interview and if you’d like to follow his work, you can do so here
Read our exclusive Artletter
Painting by Catrin Walz Stein
Subscribe to receive the most awe-inspiring stories from ArtParasites, only available by ArtLetter.
Be the first to write a comment.
Your feedback