The Perfect Body
Anna Maggý is a photographer who has been mentioned as one the the greatest photographers of her generation by Vogue Italia. Currently, at Þula Gallery, her solo exhibition “The Perfect Body” takes place. “It’s a series where I break the perfection and create unique abstract underwater portraits aiming to show that even imperfection can be beautiful. For portrait deformation I use clear water and its physical parameters with no software manipulation”.
Anna explains to me that “beauty has nothing to do with what I'm interested in, It's all about the power of the image. I want to push the boundaries between acceptably beautiful, the ugly and power of formless. It’s important that images somehow confuse me, disturb me or grasp my attention for a long time. Images that are challenging for the eye and the mind. In my work I seek to share a unique perspective and evoke an intriguing atmosphere. I like to allow each viewer the opportunity to interpret my photographs in their own way”.
I ask Anna what has driven her interest in the human body so much, “I’m particularly interested in the female portrait and nude. When I first though about this exhibition for Þula Gallery the female body was the first thing that came to my mind. Skipping the clothes makes the Images so pure”.
She then explain to me “I describe my work as fictional normality and sometimes my photographs can be pretty delusional. I think working with distortion fits well in that category. I want to challenge people’s eyes and the minds”.
Anna says that with the title of the exhibition she’s allowing the viewer to questions what a perfect is. “I want people to face their own believes and ideas and ask them self questions. The title of the show is maybe ironic because the perfect body does not exist, or does it? All of the photographs are distorted. Is our vision of the perfect body distorted?”
I’m in awe of how such intricate photographs using no technical manipulation in post production are created, I imagine it takes a huge amount of time to research ways to shoot them and a lot of testing to get it just right. “I take a lot of time experimenting and testing. Im always trying new things, never know what I’m doing next. I knew in this instance I wanted to work with distortion, formlessness and the body. In my work I seek to share a unique perspective and evoke an intriguing atmosphere. I like to allow each viewer the opportunity to interpret my photographs in their own way”.
I end with asking Anna if there are any exciting exhibitions or project on her horizon. “Lots of exciting projects coming up! I have two more exhibition this year. I just opened a creative space with my friend Bergdís Guðna and my girlfriend Dóra Dúna. Very creative year ahead!”