Arber Sefa
“I'm Arber Sefa, a photographer born in Kosovo and based in Belgium. As a child I grew up between different cultures and religions. This confronted me on a very young age with the concept of identity and raised the question 'Who am I?', which eventually moved me to explore myself in a creative and playful way through self-portraiture.”
What inspires your work and what is your creative process?
“I mostly work in series around a theme I feel the urge to explore at the moment. When I have a subject in mind which triggers many different ideas and images, it means I'm inspired which is a good sign. Nevertheless, I only get started with what feels truly exciting to me and very often it's that which scares me as well. As I'm always eager to learn and discover, I'm mostly attracted to the unknown grounds.”
“During my self-portrait projects, I always work alone. I prepare what I need for the images and characters I have in mind. If there's scenography, I do that first. Then I start my make-up and styling, set the camera, and start shooting to eventually select the images that speak to me and start the post-production. It's a long process but totally worth it when you see your vision turn into reality.”
What about photography as a medium speaks to you? How did you get your start in it?
“As far as I can remember, I often felt the need to express myself creatively. As a child I spent a lot of time drawing, then throughout my studies, I went from Acting to Theater Directing, where I essentially explored storytelling through Performance Art. There are different reasons but mainly the fact that it made me connect with others and the possibility to express how you see, what you think, and how you feel. As a visual thinker, Photography seemed to be the perfect medium to merge my several passions.”
Are there any recurring themes/issues you like to address within your work?
“Overall, I find the concept of 'Identity' a very fertile source of inspiration. That's because it can be explored on so many levels, from what we see to what we don't. The self is not singular and this idea stimulates my creative process.”
Did you have any influential role models?
“I could mention a few but the first would be my mother. She fought her way through life without ever compromising her core values. Being the son of a wise, soulful, persevering woman who always remained supportive and caring, is definitely inspiring.”
