Carlotta Cardana: Mod Couples

Artist’s Statement:

Mod Couples is an ongoing personal project on couples who belong to the Mod scene, a subculture that originated in Britain in the late 1950s and became very popular during the 1960s.

While their style is what catches the eye at first, my interest in developing this project goes well beyond their appearance. The subculture and all of its elements the fashion, the music, the scooters, only provide the framework for this series. From an outsider’s point of view, I am trying to get a glimpse of their identity beyond the mask and to portray them for who they are, rather than for what they wear. I decided to focus on couples because I am fascinated by the way their identities blend together to produce something larger than the sum of its parts.

The couples chose what to wear and where to be photographed: the world depicted in the pictures is entirely the world they have created for themselves.

Artist’s Bio:

London, United Kingdom

Carlotta Cardana is an Italian portrait and documentary photographer based in London.

After obtaining a degree in Theatre and Performing arts and a photography diploma, she lived in Argentina and Mexico City, where she started freelancing.

Her recent personal work explores the issues of identity, belonging and community, whether among young Italians living abroad, couples from the Mod subculture or modern American Indians. Her approach to portraiture privileges the subjectâ€™s experience and stresses the relationship between people and their environment.

In 2013, she was named “Discovery of the Year” at the Lucie Awards. She was also among the winners of the New York Photo Awards, the Lens Culture Student Photography Award and the Association of Photographers Open Awards. She was recently shortlisted for the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.