Interview Francesca Ogbuachi

Can you tell me about your background and how it influences your work?

I was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, studied there and then discovered Photography along the way so, in terms of how my background influenced me, well, there’s a good number of layers that played a huge part in where I’m at now in term of my practice, so the explanation of that would be a lot. But, I’ve always been someone that would “build up stories”, even just by seeing someone on the street. So, this added to Photography and playing the piano (not being able to read the notes, which makes it even more enjoyable for me) plays a huge part in what I do now.

Which artists have had the greatest influence on your work?

Vivian Maiers: a Nany and photographer in the 60s. Heavily know for Street Photography and incorporating a sense of frame and portraiture in them. One of the main things that stroked me about her ( which ended up reflecting in my work) was her reflection in the photographs that she’d take.
Harry Gruyaert: a photographer from the late 80s, well known in the Photo Magnum, but especially known for his, very piercing, usage of colours, reflections, and the continuation of a narrative, which is what I happened to spot out in my work, way before knowing the artist in the first place. Which was introduced to by a quite nice person that taught me in college.
Christopher Nolan: A film director (my favourite film director) whose characteristic is the way he makes vies that aren’t linear, but circular. Not immediately reaching the finishing point but making the viewer to think while connecting the dots.
Greta Gerwig: my favourite female director, whose way of filming didn’t thoroughly resonate with me, until I happened to see “Francis Ha” which, till this day, is one of the best movies I’ve seen because of its softness, slow narration and the fact that it is entirely filmed in black and white.

Share your favorite medium with us.

Photography, Analogue Photography to be specific. Can’t remember exactly when did it come into the picture but, although was studying culinary skills (which I still keep with me), Photography has always been in the background, enabling me to express, as it is now, things that may not be fully expressed just by saying them, and may they never will. But it’s just a case when I happened to find something that well added to the whole.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Everyday people, people that I see on the streets or people that I get to work with in the place of work. Music, as I tend to list to a set of songs for about a month or so, depending on the mood I’m into. And, that set, there can be different ranges of music. Some street sounds that can be easily miss heard and may eventually evoke some sort of a memory. The voice of a person, smells or a colour that I get to spot different times.

Describe how important art is for society.

This is truly a broad question, in my opinion, as Art itself can be very subjective so, for that being said, I think that there isn’t necessary a specific way for which I could answer how Art can impact society. All I can say is that is truly nice to see how galleries keep being so popular but, at the same time, the time or seconds, that someone spends in front of an art piece or picture makes me think otherwise a bit. But, again, this is just my opinion as Art is so vast.

Biography

Francesca Ogbuachi is a Photographer, Writer, Storyteller and music maker from time to time, although she is unable to read music notes. She is Italian, born to Nigerian parents, and her way of speaking and saying things that she usually wouldn't be able to say is predominantly through Photography, Writing, Videography and playing the piano, which has been a very significant part of, not only her way of working ever since it came back in the picture, but especially of her life. Francesca’s work is all analogue choosing film over digital often using Super 8 for her film work and preferring hours on the dark room over sitting at s computer. One of her inspirations, if not my main one, is everyday people and their way of being unpredictable, which is the whole premise of my writing, and something that is also translating in what she plays, which still baffles her.

Description of my work

People change every single time. The change in a year, in a moment and, most of the times, in an instant. For this reason, what I do mainly focuses on ordinary people in their own simplicity and complexity. They happen to always be the main characters of my stories, whether they are written or told through photographs and videos. Memories, feeling and emotions are another feature that highly characterizes what I do, or at least what I would like to portray.
So in conclusion I wouldn't call myself nor a photographer, or a writer or else at the moment but, if I will eventually do that, deep down, I will still see myself as the one that needed to say something, and now the tool that she has are words written on a paper surface, then turned into an image and then a video. The Digital side of Photography it’s, obviously, what stepped in, a primary interest in Photography so, for that reason alone, I don’t take it for granted. By studying it and being exposed to it, that brought me to where my rudiments lay down, in terms of the work that I do, and that’s Analogue Photography, more know as Film Photography which, as mentioned before, happened to be well blended with writing and playing the piano from time to time (Not being able to read the notes, but only hearing the melodies that came with it). If I take a moment and look back at what I was doing and how I was doing it, those three components (Photography, Video and Storytelling) do complement each other, without one overshadowing the other., and highlighting one of the main protagonists of what I do. People and the stories that they carry. There’s a question that has been going on for quite a while now, and it will probably going on for a bit longer but, in what I do there isn’t an aim to flag out what someone should fill or take from it, absolutely not. It’s, rather, quite the opposite, and that what I’ve been seeing in the years. I want people to feeling whatever that image, video piece or written story may evoke to them (as it differs from individual to individual) and give it their own interpretation as they may relate to it, not relate at all, like it or hate it. But that’s not up to my to decide, as I just write.