What the eye sees and the intuition grasps: Interview with Lúa Ocaña
Whatever you study, whatever you do, if you don't find photography, photography will find you if it is for you.
And this is how (spoilers ahead) Lúa Ocaña ended up exchanging her degree in chemistry for the real chemists who have marked her life: those of the developing studio. Always driven by intuition, she enjoys pursuing places and moments that are waiting to be observed. Because, as she says, all the photos are really there before they are captured... Find out more about Lúa (@luaocana on Instagram) in this interview.
Tell us about yourself and your work. Where did your vocation start? Any first memories?
My first memory of a camera comes from the portraits my aunt took of me when I was a child, and I think that's where my comfort with being in front of a camera ended... Since then I've definitely preferred to be the one taking the snapshots. It wasn't until my university years that I didn't really think that photography could end up being my job.
What do you find most satisfying about your work, and is there anything you are particularly proud of?
Where I've always felt most satisfied is taking photos of my personal life, even today when I pick up the film in the lab I leave with an exultant enthusiasm to get home early and start scanning all the material. Also during videoclip shoots, I really enjoy photographing on those occasions because there are so many things going on, so many people, so many different situations... The energy is special.
What is your creative process like, what are your sources of inspiration, any particular music while working?
The creative processes with which I've felt most comfortable have changed over the years, I suppose in a very organic way, as my vision has also evolved. There have been more meditated projects, perhaps worked on in a more conceptual way, and others that have been super spontaneous. I move between images quite intuitively. I often have the feeling that the photos were already there before I captured them. I tend to listen to a wide variety of music, especially while I'm at the computer with the material already digitised from the negatives. Now I have also joined the podcast euphoria and I can't stop.
Favourite colour, book, film and record - in that order! ;D
Oops, I've always been a bit of a regular favourite, I'd say I like these a lot, among other favourites as well:
- Klein Blue.
– Metaphysics of tubes by Amélie Nothomb, takes me straight to an inflatable mattress one summer with one of my best friends, I remember us overflowing with innocence and happiness.
– Melancholia by Lars Von Trier, I recently saw it again and there are stills that are indescribable.
- It's been a long time since I've listened to albums as such... but as I write, Guitarricadelafuente, one of my great discoveries lately, is playing.
Is your home a reflection of who you are? Tell us what it smells like, your favourite corner, your favourite decorative object or piece of furniture, if you treasure a collection... And if you have a pet, introduce it to us!
I live with Laura, one of my favourite people, and our cats, Antonia II and Francisca III, who are like night and day. We have more and more plants and more books, some things have changed at home over the years but it has never stopped smelling of coffee and toast in the mornings, when someone is a bit sad we buy flowers and we have danced to the latest hits in our living room like there's no tomorrow.
If you could buy anything right now and take it home, what would it be? Anything!
Oh, my greatest wish would be to add a terrace, just like that, as if by magic.
A great plan at home always includes...
Friends. A nice snack, background music and a good wine.
Do you have a signature dish?
Well, I'm looking forward to the cold weather to make my lentils, my mother's recipe, but in a vegan version.
Where is your favourite place in your city and abroad?
Any old neighbourhood bodega has me beaten in advance. Right now I would give anything to be in a van touring Iceland again.
