What is the best thing that I love about my work?

The fact that I see an image coming from my head materialize in real life. In particular, after creating and setting up the props, while I am preparing the subject (which sometimes is me) I visualize the image inside the lens and feel a grip in my stomach: as when you fall in love for the first time. I also love when I start developing the image in post-production knowing that from that moment on I could upset everything.

What is my greatest fear?

In fact, my biggest fear is that any other job could occupy too much time and that slowly, I don’t have any left for my art anymore.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

Being insecure

Which living persons in my profession do i most admire?

I really admire a couple of artists, Tania & Lazlo, for the methodology of their work. They carefully construct every detail of their beautiful images. It’s complicated to manage everything on my own, so I’m forced to finish the work by adding elements during the post-production.

On what occasion would I lie?

When I come back from the supermarket and sometimes I say to my boyfriend that coca-cola was out of stock. I often lie about that but I always feel like doing it.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?

I manage my photographic sets (including set-up, make-up, style etc.) almost always without assistants. Sometimes this frustrates me but on the other hand, it allows my ingenious side to surface.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work?

It happens the precise moment I see my image, my idea, real … alive! In that moment I feel happy.

If I could, what would I change about myself?

Good question! Pretty much everything except my creativity 😉

What is my greatest achievement in work?

In 2016 when I exhibited one of my works in the house-museum of the nineteenth-century poet Paul Valery in Genoa, as part of an event dedicated to the writer Henry James. It was a moment of pure satisfaction.

Where would I most like to live?

I would love to live in Arles in France, or in one of the medieval villages between Lazio, Marche and Tuscany.

What is my most treasured possession?

My hands and my eyes.

What is my most marked characteristic?

The tenacity, the ability to face difficulties and overcome the hard moments of life… Maybe! At least this the opinion of a friend of mine,but I’m not so sure. So, I think, my cosmic pessimism 🙂

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

I’ve been living in Treviso for three years, a suggestive city. I like to leave the house and feel the streets of the historic center as a continuation of my home. The difference is that if I turn my eyes up while I walk I always discover some new frescoes on the walls.

What is my favorite place to eat and drink, in my city?

I like Odeon alla Colonna’s restaurant, located on the San Francesco bridge overlooking the river, where beautiful animals such as swans let themselves be lulled by the sinuous movements of the mills. I particularly like it because the outside of the restaurant is decorated like a bohemian lounge.

What books influenced my life and how? “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante. I felt it on my skin. I love the stories covering a lifetime, where you can experience all the changes of the protagonist and the environments he/she lives.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day?

“I know it’s Over” by the Smiths … I love it.Lucio Dalla, Fabrizio De Andrè, Joy Division, Nick Cave, Tom Waits,Eric Satie, Billie Holiday… I know i have chaotic tastes.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?

Difred the protagonist of Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid’s Tale” for her resilience and inner strength. The series from the book is insane… Beautiful.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

My heroines of history are; Caterina Da Siena, Artemisia Gentileschi, Claude Cahun…

Instead my hero of our times is my super brother-in-law Eugenio, a boy with down syndrome with a great love for life and dance.

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime?

“Death in Venice” by Luchino Visconti, “Gouttes d’eau sur pierres brûlantes” by Francois Ozon (One of my favorite directors), “Le rayon vert” by Eric Rohmer, Troisi’s movies, “Casanova” By Federico Fellini and more, and more. I love movies. There are too many that I like, in fact these are just the first movies that came to my mind but the more I think the more the list gets longer, o I better stop.

What role play stories in my life and work?

The most important part. I love stories and I love to tell stories in my staged photographs. Mainly I like to enclose a whole story within a single image, always integrating surreal elements; while other times I use more images to create a single narrative thread.

What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me?

Based on the choices you make and the paths you take, in some way, you create your story. Sometimes the unexpected also creates your story.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

My mom is definitely the first person to support my passion for art, obviously like the rest of my family and my talented partner in crime Marcello aka Il ragazzo Interdetto, (illustrator, musician, writer ect.). Together we share the passion for ceramics and we dream of opening our own laboratory.

Which people or companies would I like to work with in 2021?

I hope to continue my collaboration with Julinko(Giulia Parin Zecchin) and I don’t know, I am open to new collaborations.

Which people in my profession who can make a real difference in my creative career would i love to meet in 2021?

Definitely the set designer Shona Heath because I love setting up my sets, building or researching objects and I would like to learn a lot from her who has worked for a lifetime for Tim Walker. The make-up artist and color designer Lucia Pica for the same reason, I love makeup and I would love to work for her. Then the brilliant costume designer Venera Kazarova.

What project, in 2021, am I looking forward to work on?

I can’t wait to continue my project “Controfiabe” which is about fairy tales that take a different ending. Plus all the other projects that pop up to my mind every day.

Where can you see me or my work in 2021?

I believe mainly on the Internet and on my social.

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?

It means that the day that I will no longer be able to dedicate myself to my passions, I will be dust.

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?

Il ragazzo interdetto (Illustrator, musician, writer), Sabina Vaccaro_Pepita Lab (Designer, stylist), Francesca Di Palma_ArchiChef (Architect, food designer), Barbara Bibbò_Butcher’s Broom (Jewelery designer), Rossella Flagiello (Paper artist), Euroinnovators(Creative coaching, art and design scouting, art and design events and exhibitions), Ivana Bucovac (Visual artist, make up- artist), Emanuela Cerutti (Visual artist, photographer), Vittoria Spadafora (Costume designer), Cristiano Focacci Menchini (Painter, visual artist)

How can you contact me?

https://www.instagram.com/_l_a_u_r_a_z_a_r_r_e_l_l_i_/

https://www.facebook.com/laurazarrelliart

https://laurazarrelli.weebly.com/

laurazarrelli@yahoo.it