PLAYING DOLLS
Photographer MARIA SOLDI explains how she translates her life stories into the universe of Barbie.
Interview by Contributing Editor Olya Titova
LB: The world of dolls has different proportions allowing your floral fashion creations to change the perception of traditional fashion lines. The flowers look huge, and leaf textures appear like velvet. Is it similar to being an exceptional fashion designer?
MS: Unfortunately not, it is obvious that I love all the materials and the objects I introduce into my sets. I’m very fascinated by plants and flowers, and I love to use them for my pictures. In the same way, I carefully select all the objects to suit my photographic needs. A lot of my attention is focused on the colors, but my intention is really simple: to create a good composition within the image, make it simple to understand and pleasant. I create only with the intention to describe my subject nothing else.
LB: Why Barbie? In a time of women empowerment, it is a curious choice. Is it a message? Why did you not choose any other doll?
MS: I love Barbie because she is the closest to the real human being, because of the variety of women these dolls can represent and the wide range of characters they can embody. I love Barbie for her beauty and her perfection that suits my photo- graphic needs. I own more than two hundred dolls, which I have collected over the years. I am still wandering, every Sun- day, around flea markets to look for new (old) dolls and items related to them. It is a lot of fun for me. As a collector, I’m not interested in any other kind of dolls.
LB: The Barbie doll is usually seen as a stereotype. In your pictures and in sets you create Barbie dolls look much more human, you are telling a different story. Are you making an artistic statement in your photographs?
MS: My Barbies are acting and sublimating my real life, the things I see, and the events I live. They represent me, my par- ents, my friends, and the people around me. The sets are nothing else than the daily moments of my life. A birthday or a job done, something about my passions (cooking, fashion, nature, etc.) or some special events that impressed me in a particular way (see the masked Barbie for the actual health emergency) Artistic statement? I don’t think so; I do not want to tell a different story - I want to tell my stories through my dolls.
LB: You are a professional fashion photographer featured in Vogue. How do you transfer your photographic skills into your Barbie sets? Do you shoot in the studio after work, or you have a separate studio where you work? Do you have similar teams on your shoots?
MS: I’m a professional photographer, but not in the fashion field. I do still life photography for commercial ads. In this way, my professional photographic skills perfectly match my needs for Barbie photography. I do not use my professional studio for my Barbie work; I do it at home by myself. I have dedicated space for building sets: not every place in my home is good enough for this purpose. There is a round table in my living room, just in the center, it is absolutely the best place for the best result.
