In Conversation with Photographer Marta Lamovsek
It’s 9am, and it’s raining and ominously foggy outside my window. Bundled up in a turtleneck and sipping on my coffee, I wait for Marta Lamovsek to join our zoom interview. Marta picks up and her setting could not have been more different. “Wow we are in very different climates right now,” Marta states. Dressed in a loose flannel shirt, she proceeds to giving me a tour of her new studio located in Alserkal Avenue, an arts and cultural district in Dubai. As she walks around the room taking the camera with her, I feel as though I am transported from my gloomy room to her studio space. It is an open area with abundance of light, with a section for her photo sessions and another filled with colourful props and costumes. Little did I know that this interview that started with a simple studio tour, would turn into a life coaching session, with Marta as the coach and me as the pupil. You rarely meet people as motivated, content with themselves and engaging as Marta. We talked about in a wide range of topics, such the idea of finding one’s higher self, and how meditation has changed her life, and how her experiences have shaped who she is as a person and as a photographer. Marta Lamovsek, a self-taught photographer based in Dubai, is gaining recognition for her Icon Booth series of portraits. In these portraits she transforms her subjects through costume, and overall creates a highly saturated and maximalist aesthetic, while at the same time attempting to capture the sitter’s most authentic identity, or as Marta calls it, their “higher self.”
When first asking her to describe her photographic style to me, I expected her to discuss the camera model she uses or how she stages her photographs, instead she talks about how she views the world and how this comes across in her photographs.
“One thing you need to know about me is that I am an absolute idealist. I see everything in this lens. Everything can be so magical if we a little kinder and more open. We are drafts and can all be made into masterpieces. Sometimes you need to dig into the dirt and explore things about yourself that you don’t want to see. It’s not about pretending to be perfect. This is why my work is the way that it is.”
Though she admits she does not always succeed in creating a connection to her subjects that enables her to capture the perfect image, when she does, she says it feels magical.
The way Marta describes it is almost as if two parallel processes are taking place in her photo sessions. Just as Marta, as the photographer, is going on a quest to find the perfect image of her subject, the subject or sitter is going on a quest to find out their true identity. As Marta states, “When I take a photograph of people, I try to get them to begin to explore who they are. You need to learn about who you are, to explore the shadows, and to not be afraid to go in all the different directions. I honestly believe that learning about ourselves is the ultimate rebellion.”
Marta grew up in Yugoslavia, where she taught herself photography, and later moved to London to pursue this career full time. She spent her years in London hustling trying to pay rent, and though it was a stressful time Marta notes that she gained immense experience there that further her career. She obtained her postgraduate at Central St. Martins and working briefly for Vivian Westwood. She then got offered a job as a nightclub photographer in Dubai, where she worked for a year. Though the world in nightclubs is the opposite to what she values and enjoys, Marta is still grateful for her time there. “I know it’s a cliché, but everything is a teacher. It was absolutely needed. I did something I did not want to do. This whole world in the nightclubs repulsed and disgusted me to be honest. Everyone thinks you become more materialistic when you move to Dubai. But it gave me more appreciation of things that really matter. We need to see a contrast to see the beauty of the other side. I craved for authenticity and simple human values, especially because I come from a humble background. Knowing this world in the nightclubs allowed me to see that the real me is happiest when I speak to someone humble on the street when I get my karak tea.”
During out interview, Marta emphasized how vital practice is in improving one’s photography skills. It is after having taken thousands of photographs of people, that she learned how to approach every portrait sitter differently. As she states, “It’s very intuitive. I’m scanning the persons energy and reading their personality. I will give different people different props accordingly. My goal is to build a bridge to them, to connect with them in that way that will enable me to get that best out of them.” She goes on to describe how in order to be a good portrait photographer there is one prerequisite… “you need to love people. Even though I may not love the person who I am photographing. I need for a second or two, act as a mystic, who has no judgement. You need to be free of judgement.”
One would think that in order to photograph the persons most truthful version, they should be photographed in their normal cloths. Marta disagrees with this, instead using these props to create characters for people to express personalities onto. “I want them to be elevated and people often need a forum to achieve this. I need to use tools like goddesses or warriors (which are created through dressing up her subjects) to allow them to reach their higher self.” Overall, Marta believes that every person has a hidden inner beauty and a higher self, and this is what she attempts to capture in her images. “As I photograph people, I am searching to capture the most authentic version of themselves. Their higher self as I call it. Our higher self is at peace. Our higher self does not need to prove anything. Our higher self is complete acceptance and love and has no lack.”
Arguable her most fascinating photographs are of labour workers in Dubai, which are more than just an ongoing project Marta started three years ago, but what she described as “a calling in life”. As Marta said, “you usually photograph people around you, such as friends, celebrities or whoever you come across, but this was the first time I was being called upon to bring this subject matter (workers) to my work, and when it happened it was like pure magic. I felt such energy coming from that particular moment. I was never so sure of something I need to do.” Marta discuss the difficulties this project entails, and how uncomfortable it makes her feel at times. She essentially walks the streets and approaches men who she thinks would make a great subject in her photographs. She then tries to get these men, who come from a different culture and background than her, and often times don’t speak English, to come to her studio. “I love every person that comes to my studio. But it’s different when you are already adorned, and people are waiting to be photographed by you. Or you go out there and beg someone to come and let them be photographed by you.” She never planned on photographing labour workers. However, one day on the street she encountered a Pakistani worker, who had a sense of dignity and compassion that she felt had to be photographed. After some time, she convinced him to come to her studio for a photo session. One of the props she often uses is a flower and at first, she resisted giving him a flower, in fear he would feel offended. As Marta stated, “We are conditioned in a way to perceive that certain people will not be okay with something.” However, she ended up giving him the flower with much hesitation. In the end, he received this flower with such “grace, dignity, respect and honour,” that to this day it remains a vivid memory in Marta’s mind. As she describes, “When I saw that the world literally collapsed. Everything I thought I knew in that moment was crushed.” As a photographer, Marta has her paid photo sessions which are her bread and butter, however, this series is her true passion.
The contemporary arts scene in the UAE is growing rapidly, however due to the UAE’s strong censorship policies, a lot of contemporary art looks similar, is non confrontation in general and lacks representation. For example, it is the workers, who ironically built these museums and gallery spaces, that are never represented within them. Labour workers who live in labour camps in the desert are greatly hidden away from the city centre and out of sight of tourists and everyday life. She gets no money from these photographs, as they don’t sell. However, Marta does it to bring attention back to these workers, as she feels they are just as deserving to be represented in a gallery, as her other subjects are. As Marta adamant stated, “I know this is the most difficult and the most beautiful thing that I have ever done.”
![From Emirates Women article: “This is the recent portrait I am most proud of. I felt its iconic quality in the second I shoot it – it gave me goosebumps. His name, Ashiq, means lover in Arabic. I brought Ashiq to the [October group] show… The moment…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e83de07f9ea8a6d40d57b46/1609092850969-W6UQSTRF6GCR7YNLO2BF/martafull1.jpg)
From Emirates Women article: “This is the recent portrait I am most proud of. I felt its iconic quality in the second I shoot it – it gave me goosebumps. His name, Ashiq, means lover in Arabic. I brought Ashiq to the [October group] show… The moment when he saw exhibition and his portrait totally rocking it, I saw pride in his eyes it was the most beautiful feeling in the whole world. He is pure inspiration!”
From Emirates Women article : “Imran was the gardener of my boyfriend’s villa when I first met him. When I gave him a printed portrait, he had a huge smile on his face. His face is by now one of the ‘trademarks’ of my series, and I also brought him to the show. Afterwards he told me someone recognised him on the street.”
Marta’s portraits are vibrant, celebratory and character driven. As she stated, “When I take a portrait of you, I am looking for who you are when no one is looking.” She tries to capture the viewers most original and authentic self, something which is incredibly hard to do when one is accurately aware of the camera in their face. There is this sense that though her subjects are dresses up, they are also stripped down completely, so that one can see who they really are.
“I want my subjects to be vulnerable, but also elevated. This seems like a bit of a contradiction, but to me these two things go hand in hand and almost needed in order to bring out my subject higher self.”
Contemplating her portraits, one can clearly see the way Marta searches for the individuality of every person she photographs and her belief that “exploration of who you are is one of the biggest gifts you can give to the world.” “Remember, we are all walking ignorance, until we meet ourselves. I find discovering the bullshit of myself fascinating. It shouldn’t be a bad thing.” If Marta has taught me anything about photography, it is that one does not need the newest model of camera or prestigious qualifications to capture an ethereal and introspective moment, but a desire to connect with people, embrace each other’s differences and stay humble.