You know that slightly ominous weather, when clouds are looming on the horizon, a wooshy wind picks up and it's like Mother Nature has taken to the dimmer switch? That's the kind of landscape that Spanish photographer Carla Andrade likes to capture most.

She manages to find beauty in the doom and gloom, whether snapping away as she drives through the mountains, peeking over a shady beach or perching beside a blowhole, and we thought we'd ask her a few questions about her meteorological fascination.



What is your name and how old are you? My name is Carla Andrade and I'm 29.

Where were you born and where do you live now? I was born in Vigo (Spain), and I change my location all the time... This month I'm living in Bilbao for an artist residency.



How does where you grew up and where you live now affect your photography? I grew up in Nigrán, a seaside village in the north-west of Spain and very close to Portugal. Nigrán is the reason I started taking pictures - I went to study at the University of Salamanca and then to work in Madrid, so I needed to keep the seascape images rooted in my mind and make them tangible. The images I take there are captured during moments of emotional contact, and happiness. Each space represents a part of me, an intimate part of my memory.

What areas, things or people in your neighbourhood do you most like to photograph? I photograph the atmosphere, the weather, the feeling. I generally don't photograph concrete things or places. I prefer to catch the essence that gives the first emotional response.



What do you shoot on (digital or analogue) and why do you choose to use that type? I shoot in analogue. I prefer it for a lot of reasons, for example because the act of photographing is much more solemn. Also for the results. Film gives me exactly what I want: unreality.

Is there a certain camera or type of film that you wish you could own? A Large Format Camera.

Is there a running theme to the work you create, or do you just make whatever comes to mind? It depends. Sometimes I work on organised projects, but even when I have an idea I don't like going out to look for something in particular. I prefer to find it, and to be perceptively open to everything that could occur. I'm very interested in the idea of "surprise", and in expecting the unexpected. In this way, a project can change its course during the process. Sometimes, though, I photograph in a spontaneous way and try to search for common sense afterwards. It's a way to find a reason of the work. This way of working is also very interesting to me.



What kinds of ideas and things are you working on at the moment? Now I'm working on a project titled "Geometry of Echoes". It's a reflection about vacuums in space, represented by the colour white. It's a study of the formless, the invisible, the mystery... A very important aesthetic and conceptual reference is traditional oriental landscape painting, for which the vacuum had a key role. It gave movement to the image and turned it into an organic entity. I use the fog, the snow, the smoke, etc to get this abstraction in landscape and to reach this poetic approach to emptiness.

What kind of subjects interest you the most? I'm interested in the unfathomable reality. The irrational, emotional, poetical... the immaterial. And of course, I'm very interested in landscape, because it's a mystery and therefore is infinite.



If you were to teach a photography appreciation class, what kind of lessons would you try to teach your students? The importance of looking at a lot of photography to create your own opinion and to educate the eye. This is essential, and although it seems obvious, not everyone does it. And the hardest thing - to know yourself and to know what you want to do. To be honest with yourself and to be what you are, not what you think others will like. Of course if what you want is to be rich, maybe the lesson is a bit different.

What are some of the challenges that you are facing in modern times as a photographer? Today everyone is a photographer. There is more competition, and to make something different is more difficult. But at the same time, this is also good. Challenges are always interesting. The problem in Spain in particular is that governments don't see the importance of contemporary art and culture. It is considered something incidental and unnecessary, when, as we all know, it's absolutely necessary to create free societies that think for themselves and have their own opinion. But governments doesn't want free thinkers. They prefer to control them to enrich themselves in a scandalous way... This is the real problem that photography and art in general have nowadays.



What is the strangest thing or thought that has inspired a photo? The idea of taking photos of nothing. Even altering them by burning them, for example...

What other budding photographers do you love? There are many! But I will focus on three girls, who are my age and are from the same city, Vigo. They are Lua Ocaña, Ana Cabaleiro and Carmen Marchena.

What do you enjoy doing when not taking photos? In no particular order: being outdoors, friends, dancing, reading, cinema, art, travel... Having experiences and learning all I can.



Where can we see more of your work?
carlafernandezandrade.com
carlafernandezandrade.tumblr.com