Emma Summerton arrives radiant at the FotoNostrum gallery to inaugurate the first exhibition of the Pirelli calendar that takes place in Barcelona. The Australian photographer, born in 1970, is the author of this 2023 edition of the famous almanac. Wearing a large hat, which frames her immaculate complexion and her beautiful green eyes, the creator explains to the Magazine how this great project was gestated and her vision of photography, fashion and women in both worlds.
What did you feel when you first picked up a camera?
I don’t remember exactly, but I can see myself playing with a camera when I was 10 or 11 years old. It was in the early eighties and at that time everyone had a Polaroid at home, I remember playing at photographing my sisters and our pets and making photo albums. So photography for me as a child was a really fun thing to make memories with.
And how did you feel when Pirelli asked you to photograph their 2023 calendar?
I had a shock. I thought they were kidding me, I couldn’t believe it. I had always dreamed of it and when someone asked me what my dream job was I told them it was to photograph the Pirelli calendar.
Unlike other years, in the 2023 calendar there are only professional models. Is it different to photograph models than celebrities?
Actresses are used to being on the move. They have a different way of communicating than the models. And then there’s the factor that we have less time on shoots and their publicity teams set rules about how they want or can be portrayed. You know, there’s a big machinery that surrounds them. I think that unless you work with a really very free and authentic actress, with the models you can do more crazy things with creativity.
Who are your muses in real life?
Clearly my mother and my two sisters. And also artists like Vali Myers, who was born in Australia, lived in Europe and was a totally free spirit. In my calendar all the characters are like an idea of ??all the women who have inspired me.
A photo session is like a dialogue between the model and the photographer, and the final selection shows part of that dynamic between the two. Is this relationship different when the photographer is a woman?
I only know what it’s like for a woman, so I can’t speak to what it’s like for them to talk to girls, although I think it’s a whole different dynamic for them. But I do realize, as I get older, how different we are. I used to think oh I don’t want to include my gender in this like other female photographers do, but I sure am sure it’s different. Now my way of working is different.
Has the way you see women in photography changed? Will the new feminine gaze put an end to objectification?
I think that now women are already a voice instead of just being an image. One of the best things we did with the schedule was the film and the interviews with the girls. We gave them a platform to talk about what they do and who they are. Therefore, it is about addressing the whole person and their diversity. How they look, how they express themselves, how they photograph themselves, but also what they think and what they do in the world. So yeah, it’s changing and it’s great.
Who has given you the best advice?
Most certainly my mother, who told me to always be myself. She never put limits on me and so she can explore my creativity. Another good piece of advice was given to me by a friend of mine in London, Nicola, who told me that it never happens when you want it to, but it is always on time.
Maybe what her friend told her is what happened to her with this calendar…
Absolutely. I think I had to wait for this moment of maturity in my work to deal with this project.
How do you feel when you are the one being photographed?
I hate it ha ha ha. There is a great book on photography by Roland Barthes, Camera lucida, which talks about exactly what someone feels when they are being photographed. He did a project on it when he was in school. The photographer wants you to be authentic. But when you try to be authentic you become inauthentic. It’s like a clash between two opposing realms of your being, kind of a little death of yourself, ha ha ha.
And take self-portraits?
I find photographing myself quite a challenge, because I’m quite shy, so I don’t like that intense look. Something that other people like to do… Since my beginnings as a photographer I have taken self-portraits, of course, but it is something private, nobody is looking at me. It’s like painting yourself, something you do for yourself.
And do you recognize yourself when you take a picture?
Once I take that photo, it is no longer me, it is a projection, an idea. I don’t feel self conscious, it’s a creation not a representation of my self.
Why do you rarely photograph men?
Because they are boring, ha ha ha. I don’t know, I don’t find them inspiring. Men’s fashion doesn’t seem as exciting to me as women’s fashion, and sometimes it’s ridiculous. I have a joke: maybe I have a guy in the picture and to photograph him I’ll tell him: go back further, go back further, to the left, a little further… and the guy will end up like he only wants to take pictures of women haha ha ha.
What is beauty to you?
Oh, I think being kind and loving yourself and being comfortable with yourself, which is really hard, and making other people feel comfortable. I truly believe that communication and letting people feel good makes them feel beautiful.
And in the aesthetic sense?
I usually like oddities, like a big nose. I like strong characteristics, for example what my older sister was like when we were growing up. She was very much the nerdy type of girl and then she became a goth with weird haircuts, and she was always amazing. I see the beauty in the unusual.
He lives on horseback from London and New York. Is there a difference in her inspiration and way of working when she is in one place or another?
Yes, New York is wilder and more frenetic, and I think it changes the way you work. London seems more dreamy to me and I don’t know, friendly.
Why does he always wear a hat?
I love hats because I can hide under them, while protecting my face from the sun.
That’s why she has such beautiful skin.
Oh thanks. I grew up on the beach in Australia and was always swimming in the sun, but even then in Australia there was a lot of skin cancer awareness. I remember a very beautiful neighbor, all glamor. And at one point her skin was filled with spots and grooves, and I thought: that’s not going to happen to me. And then when I was 15 years old, Cure and Depeche Mode arrived with their white faces and black dresses, which I love.
A fashion designer?
One that really blew me away was Alexander McQueen. I was going to Paris fashion week and somehow managed to get in to see his show a couple of times. They were theater, a marvelous couture performance.
How do you approach your creative process? I imagine that it is very planned and that there is little opportunity to improvise…
I think the first thing is to dream about how the images should be, to let the ideas come to you. That can happen in different ways and have many different ideas. Sometimes it is very easy to turn them into reality. But other times it’s downright difficult and I think that when it’s difficult maybe it’s because you’re fighting against something that’s not working properly. When we did the Pirelli calendar, the idea came up very quickly, and I wrote it all down. Then with Viki Rutsch, who is the set designer with whom I worked hand in hand, we began to shape it very quickly because we have great communication. And then with the stylist Eugene Souleiman it was very fluid as well. So I think that if the work is moving in the right direction, everything is easier.
And if it doesn’t flow?
I think if there’s something that’s not working, working on it and fighting it will probably make it even more difficult. So you have to dream a lot, plan a lot and then be ready to put away what doesn’t work because in creative work you can’t hit a wall to make something that just isn’t and maybe maybe doesn’t want to exist. So you have to let it go.
What do you explain to your students?
I always talk to them about how photography is capturing a moment. It’s good to be prepared, and it’s great to have everything you need and have all the technical knowledge so you can do what you want. But it is also very important to change and lift what is not working so that the process can continue. It may not be the image you dreamed of, but it may be better. There is a Buddhist saying that you can cling to something without clinging to it. If you hold something in your hand by grabbing it, you have to hold it tight, otherwise you drop it, but you can also hold it with your palm open to the sky, so you still have it but don’t force it.
What is your next dream?
I have an exhibition on August 30 in Zurich, so for the next two months I’ll be working on it.
How has your way of working changed over the years?
The industry has changed as much as fashion has changed and I guess now I’m moving more towards photography as art. My job is changed. The term is longer. I have more time to work on it. With fashion it’s like you’re in and out every couple of weeks. The good thing about this project was having such a long period to do it. So now I feel ready to spend more time on a single project.
With fame you can buy time.
I don’t consider myself a famous photographer. In fact, when I’m home and I’m cleaning the cat litter box, I don’t feel very famous. I just think that if you get into your head how people see you, it’s like a wound that eats away at your brain. I don’t like to think of myself that way. I know some really famous people who get chased all day and don’t have any privacy, that can’t be good for mental health.
What do you think of the exposure on social networks?
I use Instagram to show my work and to learn about the work of others, but the endless scrolling and constant comparison is like a worm eating your brain. We know that it is not good for mental health and we are getting worse every time.
And the pressure on women is greater…
You see, I’m pretty, I know who I am, but sometimes surfing the net feels like my brain is a blender. It’s like one minute you see like someone getting shot and then another rescuing an animal and then a model… It’s just too much information and too many different types of information coming all at once. I think it’s super dangerous. And then there’s the issue of patriarchy… a man’s nipples aren’t censored like a woman’s, what the hell is going on?