Interview: Teresa Bontà
Luca Curci talks with Teresa Bontà, one of the winners of ARTIST OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER 2020.

Teresa Letizia Bontà was born in Licata, Agrigento, in 1981. Approaching the world of photography as a self-taught photographer. The first person who stimulated her was certainly her environment, the artistic beauties and the landscapes of her country. Among her favorite themes there is no shortage of people, women, reality, surrounding. She is a simple photographer, but attentive to the details. Her photos tell what she is and what she was. She makes her first exhibition “Photo”. She is also chosen by Vogue magazine, and this project continues to have a lot of success and positive feedback. She has virtual and non-virtual exhibitions in art galleries and magazines, including: Creative Spaces (art home), PassepARTout Unconventional Gallery, Queenartstudio Gallery, Artabout Magazine, 12th Anniversary Group Exhibition 2 – Fraction Magazine, Art Curator Artetra Art Associates (exhibition and E-book), Emirates Art Connection. In 2020, her first photographic book entitled “La mia Sicilia è fimmina” was published, and it will be the first part of a larger project that will bring her back to shooting in the streets of her land to narrate another very strong part of Sicily.

Luca Curci – What’s your background?
Teresa Bontà – My past has been troubled but at the same time fundamental for my creativity. The first time I started to “photograph” I did it with my own eyes, like kids do when they see wonderful images hidden between the clouds, or on the shape of the stones or among the branches of the trees. I started to look beyond the things and I really wanted to show everyone what I was seeing. I remember that, back in the days, I couldn’t afford to purchase a camera so I traded a bag full of clothes to buy it and that’s how I started my journey as a photographer. I’ve always trusted my eyes and my instinct because I didn’t know the techniques and I’ve never taken any photography course. The streets, people’s emotions, the passion that always brought me to experiment and to be the better version of myself, have been the things that taught me the art of photography.

LC – What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?
TB – The project “Time” is born during the Covid-19 pandemic and being self-isolated made me perceive time in a very strong way.

LC – What is art for you?
TB – Art, at its maximum level, brightens the dark side of our personality, all the bad thoughts and experiences. Art is the only way to express my inner self.

LC – What is your creative process like?
TB – Usually at first I see how the work has to be done in my head, then I draw what I see and the last step is to shoot the photo. Other times the inspiration comes from all the difficult experiences I’ve had in my life and so I needed to tell my story to be reborn.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
TB – The models, being able to let them explore my emotions without being too invasive and let them understand that sometimes you only have to look without asking to interpret the emotions. Being able to listen is the hardest part of every project.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
TB – First step is to look inside my soul to perceive the emotion, then it comes to the listening part and then the hardest part is to find the right person who’s able to match with my energy, the person who can inhale that creativity without judgement.

LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
TB – I’ve explored the themes of violence against women and femicide for many years also working with important associations. Women, Pain and Freedom have always been very important themes for me.