divinita introduces positive energy (i.e. desire) emerging from Iris Brosch’s pictures supplemented with texts to a wide audience. Freed of suppression, violence, aggression and shocking images, people are touched by the beauty, delicacy and positive spirit of Iris Brosch’s photographs and are invited to participate. A new figurative style is created.
With this clear yet simple concept Iris Brosch has created a new image of women. In her photographs women enjoy themselves; they like to exhibit themselves with pleasure and dignity, free from the defining views of men. Extremely feminine photographs displaying a lot of emotion and charisma are created. Pictures reflecting beauty in every detail.
Iris Brosch is well known for photographs which catch and convey the multiple facets of women. Her great talent is to include a large number of people in one shot. She portrays not only large, amorphous groups of people but details about the action of each individual is relevant to the entire photograph. Iris has overcome the logistical challenge of directing large groups as well as inspiring each individual to portray a coherent and unified image similar to a painting.
The international press has described the photographic style of Iris Brosch as “Miuccia Prada meets Leonardo da Vinci”. This seemingly odd comparison is surprisingly accurate in that Iris’ fashion photographs combine the delicacy, beauty and femininity of a Leonardo with the definitive, straightforward stylishness exemplified by Prada.
divinita is an invitation to everybody to exhibit themselves with pleasure and dignity.
Iris Brosch interviewed by Ulrike Reinhard,
Paris, October 2005
What is the intention behind your photographs?
Iris Brosch: My work does not represent reaction but reflection. I am convinced that our present-day society is both oppressed and restricted by the illusions that are put into our minds by advertising and mass media. They tend to generalize and create ideals, which put pressure on the individual who feels stressed and dissatisfied. As a consequence, the difference between pictures portrayed as ideal by the media and reality becomes even greater in the perception of the individual. Due to competition to catch the attention of the public, the media have created a new pictorial language, whose contents are determined by violence, aggression and shocking images. I would like to follow a different path. The essential aspect for me is that I also portray the beautiful, the emotional, the delicate and the clear in detail.
My photographs are intended to make visible the invisible, releasing positive energy but in a very sensitive and tender way.
I intend to create a new figurative style to develop new perspectives – without violence, without aggression, without anything shocking but still extremely strong! My photographs make people feel at ease comfortable, because in the first instance the individuals in my pictures feel at ease; they can be authentic and free of constraints; with the power of exhibiting themselves.
What do you mean by beauty, by positive energy?
Iris Brosch: Beauty is a term with a positive association, depending on moral concepts and criteria of evaluation formed by social conventions. According to social conventions the term “beautiful” refers to the individual as well as to his environment. Interdependence and feedback for the individual and the environment can create new conventions or change existing ones. It is even possible to change values.
To be precise, beauty has the following meaning for me: living according to my own identity and values. It also means being in harmony with nature and living free of social constraints .Beauty becomes something diversified, that is different in every human being. Beauty is not uniform. I try to convey this message through my photographs. The individuals in my pictures by simply being themselves have the freedom to be beautiful, developing their own beauty and not striving for some ideal imposed by society.
This is exactly what the observer realizes, because it is not the conventional way of portraying beauty. He can feel the energy emerging from my photographs and detect the fantastic dynamism resulting from the differences.
Publicity and the integration of the public are important for your work. Why?
Iris Brosch: Working with the public implies a very direct way of communication – not with a selected audience, but with people who just happen to come by. For me it is important that people are able to experience the process of creating my photographs and films, and that I can integrate them. This provides a direct feedback which enables me to experience the effect of my work at first hand – I can even integrate the reactions in the progress of my work. Something unexpected is created, and things we did not consider before become visible. The border between the world of the famous and beautiful on one side and the ordinary world on the other disappears. A social process is indeed taking place,
initiated, but not completely controlled by us. You could probably look at it as a cultural prototype. This happens more easily with non-commercial [free] projects like Divinita.
In this context you have coined the term “Tableaux Vivants”.
What does it mean?
Iris Brosch: “Tableaux Vivants” are social sculptures, living pictures. Pictures, in which the public is integrated. With our “Tableaux Vivants” we ignore social differences. We communicate with people of every age, culture, social class or intellectual background. We also utilize the energy of their reactions, as we sometimes detect their feelings and impressions and process them later on in our work.
“Tableaux Vivants” overcome limitations and hierarchies – everybody can adopt another role.
Where is the difference between the fashion photographer Iris Brosch and the artist Iris Brosch?
Iris Brosch: For me working on a fashion or art project is almost the same. Everything is done in the same “spirit”. I don’t like to be categorized as a fashion photographer or artist, because I always try to maintain the freedom to move beyond all these categories. This is exactly from where the power and strength of my work is derived.
Where is the difference between Iris Brosch the woman and the photographer?
Iris Brosch: There is no difference at all.
Who do you think represents the same approach as you do?
Iris Brosch: Spontaneously I would say: Virginia Woolf, Artemesia Gentilieschi, Camille Claudel, Hildegard von Bingen, Julia Margaret Cameron.