We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dora Somosi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dora, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
I was the Director of Photography at GQ for 10 years, and previously had worked as a Photo Editor and Photographer’s agent at Hearst, Vibe, CPI and Magnum Photos. I felt I had achieved my goals in the business of photography, and felt a pull to be more creative, and in touch with my original goals to express myself creatively. I have a degree in Art History, and an art studio practice that I had been faithful to since High School. The true impetus for quitting my career though was a heath issue with my daughter that made me realize that my work – life balance was not in any way harmonious. I often produced photo shoots on weekends, and late into the evenings, and was unable to detach from my phone which pinged at all hours. My devotion and belief in a photography practice grew out of hikes with my daughters, in the face of personal health difficulties; looking to nature as an appreciation of things larger than our individual selves. I began to work with the imagery of the landscape, transforming it, to express the reverence and positivity that nature offered during a difficult time. This practice has grown into a space for learning and research, with emphasis on the conservation of our natural world. I seek to translate and communicate this awe and enjoyment, to focus the lens on what is certainly shifting and may be altogether one day lost.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I was born in Hungary and live and work in Brooklyn and Upstate NY with my husband and two teenage daughters. My love for art comes from my mom – originally a chemical engineer she went on to graduate from FIT and work in textiles. She has a deep appreciation for artistic expressions from fine art to music. She and my Dad instilled in me the necessity to first be financially self reliant, and to go from there. So when I left my full time job, I first took on freelance work that brought me closer to the world of fine art versus the editorial and commercial facets of photography. I freelanced for niche publications, advised content creators, curated exhibitions, and worked with artists directly on projects. Learning how to slow down my pace, and understanding the areas of overlap from my career to my own practice was an enormously helpful bridge. It was a few years of figuring things out, and not feeling particularly confident. I was nervous to run into old colleagues, and unsure how to describe my new goals and direction. My identity had been so entwined with my career success that it took me some time to regain my footing and sense of self. My dear fried, a highly creative jewelry and knitwear designer, Marissa Alperin saw the work that I was doing in photography and encouraged me to mount a show in her studio space. My friends, neighbors and colleagues showed up and I had a near sold out show. Having this support, and positive energy around me really gave me the confidence to continue as an artist. I have now been a full time practicing artist for seven years and have shown my work in multiple galleries.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My artistic voice really took shape during the pandemic. I shared my thoughts on instagram and through a bi-yearly mailer and grew my audience and community by sharing my process and outlook candidly. During this limited and dark time, as an artist, having strict parameters forced a positive focus. I created two bodies of work in these years. The first, titled, Cloud Studies are images of clouds passing from the same vantage point in my house looking up at the sky – a way to mark time, and enjoy nature’s show with my family. As Covid continued, I felt the urgency to reflect the world back in a new way. This led to a second body of work with cyanotypes – an alternative, non toxic printing process in the darkroom that turns images Prussian Blue. For this project, I am creating a cast of blue embedded in photographs of trees: the blue of moodiness, the blue of reverie, the blue of midnight, the blue of remembering, the blue of singing the blues, the blue of veins… In this limited color space, I see the temperature of what makes us alive and connects us. As I was creating these works I tried to authentically share why I was making the work and to show the beauty in nature I found so enriching.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Being an artist and showing your vulnerability and thought process is a double edge sword. On the one hand, communicating authentically is what I strive for and what I see as successful, but putting yourself out there for others to judge can be debilitating. While encouragement feels like a high, being overlooked, ignored or criticized can be derailing for a project, and personally. I am constantly expressing myself with new ideas in my photography process – sometimes I have shared these works prematurely, and due to a lack of enthusiasm I have abandoned them. Perhaps these works could have taken shape given more private time to percolate. On the other hand, I have shared some works early, and a keen collaborator ’s suggestion has make a project even better. For example, Olivia Song, an established interior design consultant saw my floral tondos, mounted a show of my work at Neuehouse, and then suggested a new way for me to fabricate the round, tondo works in my collection. This suggestion, which I embraced wholeheartedly has been one of my most successful bodies of work. Without her suggestion, advice and support of this direction, I would not have created these works in this way. I have also gone on to incorporate this fabrication technique in my Cloud Studies. Surrounding yourself with people whose advice is meaningful, and having positive critique groups is essential for positive growth. Having thick skin doesn’t hurt either. It can be really hard to know what advice to listen to and which you need to discard in order to move forward. I still grapple with compartmentalizing rejection, and leaning into the joy of the journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: dorasomosi.com
- Instagram: dorasomosiphotography