Am I really interested in that subject?

Featuring Karla Hiraldo Voleau Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Karla Hiraldo Voleau bases her work on personal experiences and meaningful analysis of the subject matter she chooses. From shifting a perspective on what the female gaze can be and how it can create a newly defined narrative on maleness to opening her personal story to the public, successfully creating a healing process through photography and reenactment.

Karla speaks about working on her series, Another Love Story, “the process of actually making all that… was weirdly great. It was joyful to be with Pierre — the actor. And preparing for the exhibition allowed me to focus on something else rather than the pain of my heartbreak.” With Karla’s work, the viewer becomes a participant in an attempt to normalize topics and create a different approach to themes not present enough in an open discussion in our society. Sharing a personal story provides a new possible perspective to deal with adversities.

Karla Hiraldo Voleau is a French Dominican photographer based between Paris and Lausanne. She gained her Master's in Photography from ECAL in Lausanne and her Bachelor's in Design from the Ecoles de Condé in Paris. Her work was featured in numerous exhibitions around Europe, with her latest solo show, Another Love Story, in Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. In this interview, we speak with Karla about her decision to tell stories through photography and the impact of her Master's degree on her work. We discuss the project Hola Mi Amol and the emerging interest in presenting male experiences through a female gaze. Karla takes us backstage of the series Another Love Story, which is composed of 180 images unveiling her traumatic relationship, the series that turned into an exhibition.

‘It was a series of coincidences that made me end up studying photography. Originally I had no clue about what medium to choose — I just knew I wanted to tell stories, mine and the ones that surrounded me.’

My Story

What drew you into photography in the first place? 

It was a series of coincidences that made me end up studying photography. Originally I had no clue about what medium to choose — I just knew I wanted to tell stories, mine and the ones that surrounded me. Eventually, I studied art history and discovered the '70s conceptual art and then contemporary art, where artists were mixing different mediums and layers, breaking the 4th wall, etc. And during my MA, I found a tone that I liked and still use in between photography, writing, and performance.

In what way do you think being a Dominican-French artist and having parents with a different background affects the topics you choose or how you choose to portray those in your work?  

Having a dual culture influences my identity and life; therefore, it’s inevitable that it somehow influences my work. However, being French Dominican isn’t the core of my subjects. It was an important fact in the development of Hola Mi Amol, a project where I talk about interracial relationships and the female gaze on Dominican men, for sure. But other than that, being French Dominican is just as important as other parts of my identity.

‘I was extremely interested in the female gaze (in 2018, the expression was not as popular as now and needed some exploring). I noticed while researching it that I couldn’t find male nudes or masculine models represented by women, and I thought it was missing.’

Developing The Theme

You gained your Master in Photography from ECAL in Switzerland. How would you describe the impact studies had on developing concepts of interest and deciding on themes you want to explore? 

I have studied in art schools for a total of eight years, so I guess it's a tremendous impact! I love the energy at art schools, and if I could still be in one, I’d sign in right away. I went from preparatory art school, where I explored all the mediums possible, to design school, where I did sculpture, woodworking, and so on, to a BA in photography, where I learned all the techniques of analog chemistry and digital photography. But eventually, I think I didn’t get to my current interests until I got into ECAL in Switzerland. There, because of all the years I spent learning concrete things, I could finally focus on the concepts and what I wanted to talk about. It is only a matter of maturity, digesting what you have learned… timing. But I believe that I am not done learning or exploring my concepts of interest.

What was the turning point that allowed you to choose themes during/after graduation or with the diploma project Hola Mi Amol? 

Definitely a matter of timing. I went to visit my family for the holidays right before we were supposed to start the graduation project. While I was there, I noticed the mixed couples, the comments in my family about it, and the very structure of my family… At the same time, I was extremely interested in the female gaze (in 2018, the expression was not as popular as now and needed some exploring). I noticed while researching it that I couldn’t find male nudes or masculine models represented by women, and I thought it was missing. Why couldn’t women stare, gaze, observe, desire, objectify, and look at men the same way they were looked at? It’s a simple question I tried to raise with that book.

‘Apart from distracting me from the pain, it was therapeutic because it was empowering! Finally, I was living the truth — an orchestrated one, but a truth anyway.’

Another Love Story

Another Love Story — your recent project that was also translated into a solo show presented in Maison Européenne de la Photography in Paris is also a personal story. The story revolves around the concepts of real and fake through the theme of reconstruction of some of the moments with a model. Could you describe the process of rebuilding the narrative from a love story to a deceit story and deciding to reshoot most of the images? 

This series presents about 180 images and 12 pages of text. I present 13 months of my relationship with X through all our pictures as lovers, mainly taken with my phone. The important point of these spontaneous and romantic images is that they are fake: what I present are re-enactments of the original images made with a look-alike of X, a paid actor. The original images and the re-enactments are identical; only the model changes from X to the actor I hired.

Next to the 13 pictures (corresponding to the 13 months we were a couple), there are these script pages that transcribe the phone conversation I had with X's other girlfriend, the moment we both discovered we were dating the same man. So, at first sight, the viewer thinks they’re watching a banal, romantic love story, and then, finally, they understand that everything is just a facade and horror. Now, the process of actually making all that… was weirdly great. It was joyful to be with Pierre — the actor. And preparing for the exhibition allowed me to focus on something else rather than the pain of my heartbreak.

What helped to turn the project and for it to become a therapeutic experience?  

Apart from distracting me from the pain, it was therapeutic because it was empowering! Finally, I was living the truth — an orchestrated one, but a truth anyway. As well, working on intimate subjects or episodes of my life instantly creates a great distance between my emotions and the subject. It becomes easy to have my nose in it all the time — since it's not really my story anymore.

‘It sounds silly, but it’s easier than you think to be drawn to a concept just because you see it everywhere, because it’s popular, because it seems to fit into your research rather than it actually interests you deeply.’

The Female Gaze

Let’s speak about the shift in perspective and the development of themes you explore throughout your practice. From working on the female gaze by observing male subjects in projects like Hola Mi Amol to switching the gaze to the intimate stories and experiences as with the last work. What does your research phase look like? 

I cross reference images and ideas into a giant visual puzzle. I usually print everything onto a big wall and make it look like a CSI episode. I obviously do the necessary research to know what I’m talking about, but try not to dig too much into what has been done before, as I want to avoid intense influence.

What types of questions do you raise before starting working on a project? 

Do I have a say on this topic? Aka, does this concern me in any way? Am I relevant to this conversation? I try to be mindful of the space that I can take as my subjects are quite touchy and subjective (love, sex, intimacy, gender, identity, etc.). Then, the most important question is always — Am I really interested in that subject? It sounds silly, but it’s easier than you think to be drawn to a concept just because you see it everywhere, because it’s popular, because it seems to fit into your research rather than it actually interests you deeply.

A Sneak Peek 

Could you provide us a sneak peek into the project you’re currently working on or some of the themes in development? 

I just joined an artist residency in Paris, and for a year, I will work on a project here. All I can say is that it’s about love language as in words used in the field of romantic relationships.