Last week we featured the first artist part of PhotoVogue Festival Echoes. We created PhotoVogue Festival Echoes to allow those who participated in the event to contribute their voices to the Festival’s narrative. During those days in Milan, we recognised our community’s desire to come together and draw inspiration from each other’s works. We highly value the sharing of experiences and practices, firmly believing that providing dedicated space to each artist can appropriately acknowledge the outstanding projects exhibited in November at the PhotoVogue Festival.
The second episode of PhotoVogue Festival Echoes is centred around Alba Duque and her project ‘All of Us’, part of the exhibition “Spanish Women: A contemporary Portrait of Strength and Beauty”, the Local open call made in collaboration with Vogue Spain and PHotoESPAÑA.
“All of Us” is dedicated to all the women who don’t fit into the normative standards imposed by society and want to empower each other, fearlessly exposing their emotional and physical vulnerabilities. The artist gathered together different women who, before the photo shoot, did not know each other, but they chose to share a space together, united by the same desire to be recognized, seen, and heard. The models confidently pose in their underwear, looking straight at the camera, fearlessly showcasing their features, embracing their imperfections, which are too often harshly criticised. (Female) bodies, when brought together, have the power to shape the spaces they inhabit, giving rise to innovative forms of connections and interactions.
1. What is your favorite memory of the PhotoVogue Festival 2023?
All the photographers being photographed after a night of many spritzes is in the top 3… But I’ll stick with matching faces and personalities with photographers that I admire and whose work I know well, it is very inspiring.
2. How did “All of Us” come to light?
I had been working with women and the way we relate to our bodies for some time in the studio, in a very intimate way. After the pandemic, I felt the need to get together, go out and work with large groups. In the first call, 50 people joined, and there I began to explore what happens when we gather together and show ourselves, and get empowered through sharing vulnerabilities and spaces.