Olga De la Iglesia: The Absurdity of Mundane.

Words: Leen Abu Aisheh

The human eyes are the tools of vision; through them individuals perceive life as it is. Olga De la Iglesia enthusiastically uses her eyes as tools to uncover details in the random truths of everyday life. The Spanish photographer and fashion director works on observing the way light falls on a particular entity or being; combining mundane items with austere components to build her backdrops and create her vivid innovative imagery.

Focusing on colour and shape chiefly, she is inspired by humans and the space around them, what they have created and continue to create, the money that controls their lives and their behaviours towards one another. Another inspiration that triggers her work and feeds her imagination is the innumerable nature of other cultures she comes across. In each culture a colour could signify a different notion, mood or memory, and nonetheless she is intrigued by the way the colour remains the same to one’s eyes.

De la Iglesia’s approach principally rotates around capturing items in spaces they do not originally belong to. Her fluid imagery consists of fashion with a textual hint, and odd still lives against radiantly tinted backdrops. The dazed hues and harmonized shades of her imagery shadow her distinctive style.

Her photographs mainly represent females, since it is easier for her to understand their nature. In her series, women, she focuses on several females and their hair, the four letter word which communicates different notions; both cultural and historical. Hair is regarded as an important tool of communication which tells a lot about one’s character; an armament which indicates individuality and personal beliefs and De la Iglesia uses this armament to narrate stories and emotions.

Her attitude towards photography could be described as minimalistic, true and rich. In her painting-like images she enjoys unintentional beauty and dreamlike scenes, moving inventively between shapes and colours to materials and textures. A thorough accident which is almost faultless but not entirely, this is how De la Iglesia’s mind functions.