Isabella Quaranta

Italian photographer Isabella Quaranta (@isabellaquaranta_ph) began creating photos at the age of 25. Her work focuses on portraiture and self-portraiture illustrating scenes that blur the line between reality and oneiric. Isabella began the ongoing project Beyond Reality in 2017. Each of the images in this series illustrates a unique atmosphere that mixes dreams with reality. The work feels mysterious as if each image contains some secret message for the viewer to untangle.

Each photograph was made at a different time over the last 3 years, created whenever Isabella was struck with inspiration brought on by dreams or as an emotional response to a personal occurrence. Within the images are her anguish, inclinations, and her dreams. “It’s beautiful the feeling of getting in the game every time, challenging your own imagination, creating curiosity in the observer.” Though Isabella is often behind the camera working with a model, she is also sometimes in front of the camera, making self portraits. The self portraiture is an important aspect of this series as Isabella is illustrating parts of her inner world. This practice helps relieve anxiety and forces her to grow as a person and as an artist.

Symbolism is present in each image with the use of a location or an object adding to the induvial narrative of each scene. Red strings used in a scene titled Control, show a woman in a dark place with her arms and head being controlled by some larger unseen force. The image has multilayered meanings but can be easily related to by the viewer. The use of lighting and post processing work to bring an emotional feeling to the series.