Charlotte Abramow is a young Belgian photographer who has been making waves in the artistic scene today with her fresh, playful and absurd take on portraiture. After moving to Paris in 2013 to attend Gobelins L’École de l’Image, Charlotte won the Prix Picto de la Jeune Photographie de Mode a year later, and shortly after graduating in 2015 she became a finalist at Rencontres d’Arles, an esteemed photography competition.
How would you describe your work, your style?
I would say that my pictures are graphic, playing with colours, aerial, and staged, dotted with surrealist touches. I like absurd pictures and shooting my characters in quite a frontal way. With this aesthetic approach, I study subjects like the relationship to the body (The Real Boobs, showing the diversity of breasts with fruits) and the stages of life (Metamorphosis, a series about the emergence of puberty in a girl’s life). In all my projects, I want to speak about humans because I’m inspired by psychology and sociology.
Your photography seems to cover a wide spectrum, from fashion to conceptual to documentary. What subjects are you most comfortable taking photographs of?
I’m always comfortable when I’m prepared and when I have an idea of what I want to do. I’d say that I’m particularly comfortable with portraits and staged pictures, in the studio where I can control the light. I love all my subjects, I love shooting bodies, because the body in certain poses with camera angles can be very surprising. I would like to show the body with curiosity. I really like portraying elderly people too, and I’m working on a big project now about my father who is 85. I also experienced my first travel photo documentary in Faroe Islands last year, where I discovered how mixing improvisation and staging can be exciting.
What’s next for Charlotte Abramow?
I just directed a video clip for George Brassens « Les Passantes » which came out last March 8 for International Women’s Day. I’m also working on a big project about my father, who got ill but he made it, he went through cancer, a surgery and a coma that left him with neurological sequels. The project is called « Maurice Project » and I’m currently working on a book and an exhibition.
Very soon, I will publish « They Love Trampoline », my series about meeting people in Faroe Islands and sharing creative and funny moments while photographing them.