CANARY MAGAZINE

Natalia Izarra, Photographer. Written by @loretosocorro

If I had to tell a story about Natalia Izarra, I would imagine a curious, funny and fearless woman: a heroine with hints of a magician.

Natalia came to Gran Canaria (Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana), to present us with her artistic project called NIHL.

She came with a van, which is more than meets the eye: it exactly doubles as a pinhole camera. But let's go in parts...

Natalia, what is Nihl?

It is an artistic work of pinhole photography, but in this case, the photos were not taken with the van, but with a small camera: a box of cookies turned into a camera. As it is round, the photos are circular.

Is Nihl born with some objective?

As a personal project, more than anything.

When I was studying I had to do an end-of-year project and it arose spontaneously.
For me it was a constant self-knowledge and I realized that it was what interested me, where I wanted to go.
What I like about pinhole photography and what it has to do with the current project of the van is not taking the photo as the final objective, but the whole process that accompanies it: leaving with the van, traveling with it, everything the process that surrounds and accompanies photography.

Natalia Izarra, spontaneous and fun, tells us about the opportunity for self-knowledge that she has been able to enjoy while NIHL was happening...

You see what interests you, even if you think you don't talk about anything; That's why the project is called that. In the end, photography is nothing but talking about yourself. It is always through your gaze and it is your filter that prevails.

What else have you brought us to the island?

Mainly I have come to give a workshop, to present the photobook of the project, at the Santa Lucía de Tirajana Book Fair and to exhibit my work in Vecindario, since May XNUMXth.

Regarding the workshops you have given, is it a factory of surprises?

The workshops shared these days have been for photographers who have already used analog cameras, although this does not imply that they have had a laboratory at home, so some have also been surprised.

When you share with high school students, how do they respond?

Very young people are very surprised because they are digital natives and everything that has to do with the analog process, especially the moment of development. And it is that, when the image appears... that instant of development is very beautiful. I myself am always surprised.

In your artistic creations, does an archaeologist influence you, do you look for your origins?

Yes, because I am from a small town and nature throws me a lot and when I have to choose what to do or where to go, I always look for remote spaces. Nature, which is what I like because, in some way, I reconnect with that environment in which I grew up and what I always seek is to be in places away from people, without getting too far into cities or closed spaces.

Something similar to magic is born in Natalia's van and its use as a pinhole camera has aroused curiosity about where it has filmed. We asked her about her island walk…

I have moved, above all, around the beach areas, although everyone tells me to go up to Roque Nublo and such... and it is true that the Canary Islands are beautiful, but I am interested in the sea and the coast. I am from the plateau and I am very fixated on the sea.

What interests you most about our coast?

I am interested in taking photos and exploring the sea, movement and slow times. For me, the coast and the sea are something quite distant, so I focus on experimenting with all of that.

The sea, the movement and what about the wind? What does it give you for your photos?

The wind does not stop being movement and using these cameras, which have such long exposure times, because everything that is movement also gives you another point of view, is what defines the result.

What is the most unique in this type of cameras?

The most characteristic thing is the lack of sharpness that it gives it and, because they are long times, the figures and objects that are in movement appear moved. Gives it a personal touch. The result is blurred. Instead of the image appearing fixed, it remains as a trail.

How did you get the idea to start using the pinhole van?

It was a bit random. They told me about this -because there are more people who do it- and since I had just bought the van, I began to experiment with pinhole photography. I got more and more into it and in the end…

Has there been a lot of "trial and error" up to today?

A lot, because I had no idea.

When they told me that people made cameras with vans, well, it seemed to me something… like from another world; Well, just like anyone else when you tell them. I began to adapt the van, little by little, for example: how I had to make the pinhole, which is the little hole through which the image is filtered by light. At the beginning it wasn't as well done, technically, as it is now and the photos didn't turn out well. I was investigating how I had to cover, seal the light, how to project the image... I had to keep trying to make things work out.

What is the biggest thing you have photographed?

Do you mean the size of the paper?… -Natalia clarifies, before my ignorance, with a shrewd explanation that, as big, it is that everything fits- …Because, when projecting the image, everything you want is projected onto the van. It doesn't have to do so much with the size of the object, but the size of the paper that I use to take photos.

The van allows me to use very large papers and negatives. I have used 50×60 papers and I can combine them.
Normally, to do that you either have a very big camera or a van where you can get inside.

I can't resist making a nerdy comment about that moment, like something out of science fiction...

That's what I tell the children, that it's as if I were little and I was inside the camera.
Being able to be inside the camera is an advantage, apart from also being able to use it as a laboratory and being able to develop right there, which is also something wonderful.

At Sal del Atlántico we would like to know what other jobs will amaze us, but for that we still have to wait a bit. Meanwhile, we will visit the exhibition and enjoy Natalia Izarra's Photobook. She tells us that she is always working on ideas and letting herself go.