Introducing the sketch before the photo - Lunch talk Elfie Semotan and Roberto Orth

In their well-attended lunch talk at the Alte Saline in Hallein, Elfie Semotan and Roberto Orth talked about a book project they have in the making. In her long career as a fashion photographer, Elfie Semotan would take a Polaroid of the location while the model was still getting prepared, to see how the light and background would look like. Often, she used whoever was available as a stand-in for the person later being photographed. This creates a special feeling in the pictures. “They are pictures outside the planned photography, something you would normally throw away. I collected them.” Elfie says. After an initial project with Martin Kippenberger, the idea to compile them in a book was born. “We set strict criteria” explains Roberto. “The book is supposed to show the sketches before the actual work, the sketchy part of photography.” Elfie adds ”We want our stand-ins to have an out-of-focus quality, like they are not really sure why they are here or what they are doing. We decided to take out the ones that try to be funny or strike a pose. As they show different polaroids that will be featured in the book, talking about the projects they came from and the conditions they were made under, I can’t help but like their unique aesthetics. Elfie seems to think the same, as she points out how “ I would really like to do a photo shoot with polaroids, but this needs to be planned incredibly well and you cannot guarantee the outcome, as polaroids fade by themselves and you can’t know where the process will start, for one thing.” We will see if she decides to do it after all.