photo: Ana Hell & Nathalie Dreier
Absurd, sexual, melancholic, poetic… the photography of Ana Hell evokes many reactions. But, it definitely stimulates us. The Spanish photographer who works a lot in Berlin loves to take normal, ordinary situations and just give them a ‘lil twist. A twist that might make the viewer go like: “Wait what? I don’t get it. What’s happening here?” And isn’t it exactly that what makes a great picture? We collected some of her most captivating, uncanny visuals.
Body parts in odd positions, confusing vantage points, absurd compositions, or stunning textures and colors – there is always that one thing sucking us into a picture by Ana Hell. As absurd, or puzzling the content might be, the composition and distinct play of colors is so calming and balanced that we just wanna keep on looking at well, … this woman, legs spread across the couch, looking at her… Uhm… or this cat, apparently chilling on a sink with her mummy in nothing but turquoise fishnet. Or two beautiful naked women intertwined on a huge …cactus?! Where else would you be naked, right?
Ana’s photos contrast ordinary forms and places, something as simple as two female bodies, a room and one mundane object. In their self-portrait series red rubber road Ana and her colleague Nathalie Dreier perfectly illustrate these visual juxtapositions. She creates surreal moments in raw, real imagery. Showing, what’s normal and abnormal might just be this one tiny ‘lil alteration away from us. We might perceive a situation as weird, normal, filthy or beautiful, but in the end that’s nothing but a construction in our heads.
The photos below are from her self-portrait series Red Rubber Road with Nathalie Dreier.
Red Rubber Road, above photos: Ana Hell & Nathalie Dreier
