{"id":22956,"date":"2019-02-21T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/about.35.197.208.187.nip.io\/?p=22956"},"modified":"2025-07-17T09:13:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:13:36","slug":"marta-soul-on-the-interplay-between-reality-and-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zealous.co\/about\/spotlights\/marta-soul-on-the-interplay-between-reality-and-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Marta Soul on the Interplay Between Reality and Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"MP<\/a>
Gill Furnis, MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s really exciting to hear about your contribution to 209 Women, can you give us some insight into your creative process behind your photograph of MP Gill Furniss?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first I thought about taking a picture that depicted Gill\u2019s life, her background and her passion for Sheffield. For instance, her father was a steel worker and she seems to be passionate about the steel industry. I realised that although this idea could be a good representation of Gill, it would not disclose much about myself. Instead, I thought about what Gill and I had in common and had the idea of using people as the link between us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually create images of people showing different roles of themselves. I love producing scenes and situations in the interplay between reality and fiction. Gill Furniss is a female politician, very engaged with others concerns. She works to protect consumers, and this is something affecting all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ended up using different characters as the background for the portrait. The initial idea was to place Gill into a crowd; the problem with this was how to define a crowd and decide what characters could best represent it. It\u2019s not possible to represent all types of people within one picture, so I decided to include friends, relatives and people close to Gill and I; people that one could meet on a normal day in Sheffield. This made things so much easier!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ama<\/a>
Ama y bebe\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You are interested in exploring social narratives and stereotypes, how did this impact the construction of your photograph?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often generate narrative scenes in relation to situations experienced on a daily basis. It\u2019s not about representing those scenes through depicting the actual event, but about recreating them in a personal way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of this particular image, it was important to represent a person with political duties, so I had to discover what characteristics were defining of that type of social stereotype. A person committed to politics should have a number of virtues, but I was mainly inspired by honesty, firmness, empathy and elegance. With these ideas in mind, I tried to visualise the portrait of Gill that I wanted to show. Then I decided to incorporate her within the crowd to reinforce these values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Welljob\"<\/a>
Welljob<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You must be proud to be part of such a powerful project! Is it important to you that your work brings attention to wider topics such as gender equality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I consider 209 women an important project with a legitimate cause. It shows the actual volume of female photographers currently working in the UK, as well as the importance of female politicians. Being from Spain, the first thing I thought when I received the proposal, was to export the idea to my country\u2019s reality.  Although I have never seen my work as a gender-equality centred one, this is a topic that has always concerned me at a personal level. There are many aspects of my work that reference the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity, adopting a sarcastic approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, all my works are shown from the perspective of a female photographer, so it is important for me that this is considered in a positive way \u2013 as added value rather than a differentiating aspect. Things are changing in a positive way and perspectives are now broader. Those with a biased view of photography are moving forward, pushed by social movements defending gender equality. 209 Women is a brilliant project that has been able to show the importance of photography created by women in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also take part in #nosinfotografas, an activist group in Spain. This is a platform aimed to tackle cases of gender inequality observed in the field of photography.  As a photographer, I think that it is important to get involved in these types of initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"21st<\/a>
21st Century Photo-novels\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve had an exciting 2018, contributing to 209 Women and being a finalist for Emerge \u2013 what do you hope to achieve this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started to work on a new series in 2018 and I would like to move it along this year. 209 Women will travel to Liverpool\u2019s Open Eye<\/a> in February, and this will enable new opportunities to show my work in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been living here for over 4 years now and I would like my work to gain a similar level of recognition to what it has already achieved in Spain. I\u2019m also planning to deliver a few workshops in Latin America and trying to take part in an exhibition in France. This is all still in its very early stages, so I can\u2019t reveal too much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marta\u2019s work will travel North to Open Eye Gallery<\/a> in February
28 February -14 April 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Website<\/a>\/Follow Marta on\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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