The Sunday interview: 5 questions for Manuela Thames

Today I will present Manuela Thames the author of Undone. Manuela is a photo-based artist with a love for writing.

1. Why photography?

I have always been drawn to photography. My grandfather was an amateur photographer who took quite a few images during his lifetime, especially portraits of his family. I remember spending time in his house and often taking time to admire the photographs. My father also took many photos during our vacation trips, and I often desired to take the camera from him and try it myself. When I finally was given a simple point-and-shoot camera as a teenager, I began experimenting with self-portraiture, eager to learn more. However, life took me in a different direction. Years later, I experienced two life-changing events in the same year: the birth of my first son and the death of my brother. The conflicting emotions from these events unleashed something in me. When I eventually purchased a decent camera, I started taking photographs, and I haven’t stopped since.

2. What is your favourite gear? (camera, lens)

This is a question I struggle to find a good answer as I don’t think about gear very much and I don’t have a lot of it. I use my Nikon D 800 for most of my work and a Sigma prime lens is probably my favorite. When it comes to film, I feel mostly drawn to my Holga camera and black and white film. As I am saying this, I am a strong believer in developing your vision for your work and that vision is more important than gear, at least for me and the work that I do. I am also pursuing alternative photographic processes in my work, for example cyanotype.

3. What are your favourite subjects to photograph?

I started out mainly focusing on self-portraiture for many years. I would say that my work is more conceptual as it starts out with a vision. I often see images in my mind and then try to recreate them. I feel mostly drawn to photographing human beings in connection with nature. I have used myself as a model for the most part, but my interest has been shifting and I would love to focus on photographing models rather than myself. It is definitely people/human beings (faces, eyes, hands, and the body in general) that provide an endless source of inspiration for me.

4. Can you name a few of your favourite photographers?

There are too many to list, but when I first started out with photography, I was greatly inspired by Harry Callahan, Sally Mann, Imogen Cunningham, Joyce Tenneson and Francesca Woodman, to name a few famous ones. In recent years, I have taken a lot of inspiration from contemporary photographers and mixed media artists/collagists that I mostly discovered through Instagram. Here are a few that I love: Julianna Foster, Elizabeth Bailey, Aletheia Casey, Luis Lazo, Heather Evans Smith.

5. What can Substack community expect from you/your publication in the future?

My goal is to continue to share my work and creative process, my thoughts on creativity and art, but also develop my writing and continue to share personal essays on life and what it means to be human. Additionally, since I teach photography courses, I would like to incorporate my teaching/mentoring experience and host a monthly or bimonthly creative hour for photographers to exchange ideas, feedback and inspiration. We will see how things will grow and develop.