Anita Acman

 

Anita Acman talks to artCollective about her personal emotional rollercoaster and her ongoing exploration of female body as a form of art.

 

 – Your main work is a series of a very personal self photography. What was the reason or emotions that initiated this?

The main reason why is because I was losing something that challenged me and kept me going. At the time it felt like I missed all the chances and this drove me to the point I couldn’t help it but to create something really insane, just to calm myself down. There was not only one emotion responsible for this, but the whole spectrum of colors moved by someone’s blue eyes I deeply appreciated. I started with an anonymous Instagram account and since Sensualminimal had a pretty great feedback and also got banned. The war was on, so I decided to start uploading on my official account @anitacman. And even though my work is only an expression, it got flagged as sexual suggestive. Instagram also warned me that @anitacman could get banned too, so I have to be careful even though sometimes photos that are least showing anything more than just a woman’s skin gets reported.

 

– Posting your work on Instagram means that an audience will reach you. For a personal project like this, do you expect a reaction from your audience or do you just want them to be observers?

I want them to observe what I do. Mainly I am doing this for myself and my own pleasure, sometimes I try to challenge or provoke thoughts, definitions and beliefs, But it is their thing if people react to it. That is also the reason I don’t like to expose my face too much, so that others may feel the connection. I want to cut my own importance and focus on what really matters.. 

I have a Patreon account Sensualminimal, where my work is safely hidden for those who appreciate it and it is a playground for my feelings.

– Can this be considered as an ongoing project?

Making my own self-portraits was a therapy I needed but I’m still learning who I am, still hunting for my dreams and I think this will last forever. It’s a simple way to express with all I got and I really enjoy doing this.

– Looking at yourself, back when you have started taking and posting the photos to today, how was that emotional trip and how beneficial was it for you?

It was a roller coaster of pleasure and pain, I’ve fallen in love, lost myself, I was out of control, then I learned to trust myself more. I had no one who’d listen but the shit wanted to go out. I can challenge my fears, explore myself, my body, my reactions, my feelings,  I can do this alone and the trip never ends. The only problem is the Instagram algorithm that limits woman expressions, making me unable to post everything I would like. But this is also the reason I started to look on the reality different – nothing is as it seems and everything sadly revolves around money. 

– Do you follow a process or a plan before and during taking photos or are they completely based on your current emotional state?

I like to live spontaneously.

So there is no plan, only a great deal of emotion and the war with the social media, of course.

– What is the most challenging part of self photography according to your experience?

I am always searching for something I am afraid of, so the most challenging part is to jump into the unknown and fly with whatever time and place gives you. It’s about focusing on this very moment but sometimes it’s hard to close our minds and improvise. 

And also choosing what to upload and show to the public.

“I am always searching for something I am afraid of, so the most challenging part is to jump into the unknown and fly with whatever time and place gives you“

– What photography equipment do you use to create the photos?

I posses an old Canon 7d and Auto Revuenon 50mm.

Sometimes I borrow lenses from friends, I love to try different options, before I decide what my future equipements gonna be.

– You have also an alternative account (anitacman_alternative), featuring photos from events and also portrait photography. Is this your main photography work?

I am mostly into portraits, sometimes I also shoot concerts and events with the music I enjoy, which is another passion of mine. I love all kinds of photography and I am surprising myself all the time so everything can still change..

– Taking self photos is the dominant activity of your photography as this appears on Internet. When you are the photographer taking portraits of others, how does it feel?

I want others to feel what I want to express. And I want to feel whatever they feel, find their mistakes, use them and show them so they accept themselves to a perfection. I like to connect first and then shoot, it’s really about making the moment not only catching it. I love to shoot real feelings and I want to stay honest to myself and to the human nature.

“I love to shoot real feelings and I want to stay honest to myself and to the human nature…”

– As a photographer, what are your current priorities and what do you want to do for the future?

I am observing the politics of human sensuality – I believe it’s beautiful, but not everyone thinks this way…it is so hard to find something artistic and useful around it. Woman body is mostly used for sexualisation and empowerment of the men and money revolves around porn that can be found everywhere on the net – unlike the art. Seems like sex is a thing we can take or force, but nothing really belongs to us except our bodies so we should think about who we connect with. 

We were all born naked and now a great deal of population is ashamed of their bodies. I fell in love with mistakes and I believe beauty is overrated. 

In the future I want to provoke even more.

 

 

Follow Anita’s work on her Instagram and Eyeem accounts. Explore her alternative instagram account for event and portrait photography.

You can always support her work and efforts via her Patreon page @sensualminimal