Bringing a bit of Coney Island to London

This is the first of (hopefully) a series of independent experiments of people that share a passion for performing arts and photography. Our ambition is to create experiences tout-court into performing art, photography and every other medium that is functional to make the audience travel with us, either to real places or to imaginary worlds.
In December we brought a bit of Coney Island to London with photographs by Francesca Tosarelli, mixed and enhanced by various other performances; from of a lost princess on the train, to a fire-breather, an amazing singer and storyteller and an artist performing the 'isolation' (in that order: Mika Hockman, Lewis Davidson, Simone Douani, Francesca Martello).
Francesco Caradonna and I curated and art directed the show/exhibition. We had loads of fun!
A beautiful edit of the night can be viewed here: Vimeo Video: First Stop Coney Island

Maria Teresa Salvati and Francesco Caradonna, by Francesca Tosarelli

The Re-Birth of Coney Island

The journey to Coney Island begins with a twinkle into Francesca Tosarelli's inquisitive mind. While in New York, Francesca heard that the famous Coney Island was re-opening to the public with the new fun fair (Luna Park), so driven by curiosity and the desire to meet these mythical stories in person, she jumped on the train. 
Coney Island is a legendary place by the seaside, just an hour from Manhattan. At the beginning of the last century this place was called "Sodom by the sea" for its fame as the base for back-packers, eccentrics and oddballs. Known for the old "Luna Park" (partially constructed by Italians), Coney Island is an attraction for the weird and wonderful shows it puts on.

Photo by Francesca Tosarelli

This is the place for strong emotions, for humiliations and sublimations, for crashed dreams and touched heavens, for nothing, for everything, for legends and tales, for brothels, carousels and merry-go-round.

Here is home for hybrid cultures: American and Hispanic identities fuse and disguise offering the most stereotyped peaks for each of the two. Sizes, lights, bemusement, noise and rides are the container in which families, kids, old and young people, "contemporary freaks" and working class meet regularly and perform dreams and shows. 
Tolerance, confusion, smiles, comfort, friendliness, music, fire-eaters and foolery are the natural soul. This is the norm. You feel immersed in their world, and joy and amusement pervade your soul too, feeling yourself part of those families.

Photo by Francesca Tosarelli

Coney Island has become once again a cheap meeting place especially for Afro-Americans and Hispanics, but the Island still exudes a peculiar and extraordinary charm, a zone apart, inhabited by those souls which, besides the vibrant energy, can still feel lonely. We are in America, after all.

Photo by Francesca Tosarelli

All prints are 40 x 60 cm + foam board 1cm and are available for sale at £180 inc. VAT, each.

It is possible to view the entire exhibition at Primi Restaurant.

How Laura Hynd learned to Let Go

When I first heard Laura Hynd presenting her work ‘The Letting Go’, I felt a shiver down my spine. I was particularly touched by the sincerity, the naked soul coming through her eyes and the vulnerability of her voice as she talked about relationships with family, friends, lovers, siblings, people and especially herself.

I could see what she was voicing in all the beautiful photos she was presenting.

This is a beautiful story of photography as a form of healing, new discovery and self-awareness.

Laura started by saying “my life had unraveled and I needed to knit it back together… to understand and see with new eyes in order to move on.”

Photo by Laura Hynd

I have been thinking of her work for a while; it was extremely fascinating, together with the story behind it. I could empathize with that story too, so I wanted to discover more. When I met her again we immediately connected and decided to talk further about the whole project.

This is the story of every woman, if not person, who at a certain point in life has doubts. Questions life and events, and wants to discover the reason of many things: why lovers have left, disappointments, things that don’t always go as planned, why people hurt others and why we are not satisfied with what we have and who we are.

Often these questions are left unanswered, but Laura wanted to explore further and decided to embark on this journey of discovery.

The idea behind this project came from a need to explore her notions of photography alongside a desire to explore a much more personal side of her creativity.

’The Letting Go’ stemmed from wanting to focus on perceptions of women, which soon led to others' perceptions of me and my own self-perceptions. The difference is quite extreme.”

“I wanted to really celebrate women, and so started working on my own bodily self esteem, which I should have been celebrating but instead had spent years worrying about.”

“Since beginning this series I have also photographed many men, and a lot of them have photographed me…I can look back at all of the shoots with men and women and identify my role in the relationship... sister, muse, lover, friend, mentor, daughter etc.”

Photo by Laura Hynd

The journey of photographing was as amazing and inspiring as the result: “The feelings of liberation and trust resulted in an overwhelming amount of bonding in a very short time. It cemented many friendships, healed past problems and gave me an extreme amount of faith in people.

‘I wanted to let go of my control of a shoot, so at the beginning of the series, thought it would be fascinating to start each one with the same set up, take a couple of photographs and then allow the sitter/collaborator to do whatever they wanted. There were no rules.”

When you photograph someone, they put a huge amount of trust in you. You can explore, investigate and see their personalities with no filters or preconceptions.

Perception and self-perception are at the centre of this beautiful story. Laura has always been fascinated by ones self-perception in contrast to the way they are perceived by others.

She says she grew up being insecure and unsure of herself. When being photographed (from childhood, right through her twenties), by family and friends she always disliked the results. Now, looking at those old photos, she wonders why.

I look at her and see so much beauty coming from her deep soul and her eyes, and wonder why too. Though at the same time I understand and empathise with that feeling.

“Often, social pressure, upbringing and personal experiences leave us with a warped or unfair view of ourselves” says Hynd. It’s only when you reach a level of maturity or when you really touch the bottom that you feel a push inside that forces you to investigate, do something, clean up and discover that no one has the right to let you down or make you feel insecure.

We all have something amazing inside – or outside - it’s just a matter of baring your soul, seeing with honest eyes and letting go.

Laura’s piece of advice to other people that may feel a connection - even with a little part of this story - is: “take risks, be brave! The worst that can happen is that you’ve learned something new…”

And, in this amazing journey of self-discovery, you might learn that sometimes it’s just a matter of acceptance of faults…and, as Leonard Cohen says:  “there’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”!

Looking at things from outside

Sometimes you are too close to things to see them clearly.
For a moment you feel the urgency of extracting these things from the inside and try and see them with a colder sight.

It's not easy, especially if you are used to listen to your warmer and soft side. Sometimes you have to see things objectively, shut these sides down, see life with a pinch of objectivity and evaluate the opportunity of this or that choice.
It's like, paraphrasing a friend of mine "when everything seems confused, freeze".

Seat in the dark. Look, from the quiet of this place, at the confusion, the things moving fast, the light too bright inside and, somehow the context of peace in which you momentarily seat, helps to feel more peaceful inside too.

Self-Portrait by Maria Teresa Salvati

Sometimes you just need to breath, immerse in the quiet, see from the outside and that beautiful candle light will come back to warm you up and quietly suggest the right path...

Try.