Carla Meyer-Kleynhans: Queer Belonging
April 7th, 2022
Interview by Joana Alarcão @ joalarcaoart
Cape town-based photographer Carla Meyer-Kleynhans captures the most vulnerable aspects of the queer journey with a distinct compositional style that allows us to step into her emotional world. Fans of Carla’s practice, we invited Eco-Artist and Writer, Joana Alarcão, to speak with Carla and get under the skin of her practice and what it means to be queer in today’s society.
When conflict floods dialogue routes and oppression clinches its grasp around democratic foundations, a wave of irrefutable disconnection is left in its wake. The pursuit of individual identity is the last-ditch effort of the artistic voice to draw attention to the attempted eradication and mockery of the sense of belonging.
The severe conflict atmospheres across the globe and the multitude of perils society faces today is overshadowing the rise of inequality- an amalgam of legislation against LBGTQIA+'s community is spiking across America and soon will influence other nations. When governments jeopardise the sense of safety for a major culture sphere, where can the sense of identity flourish?
Sequentially, this matter is not left unnoticed by the art community, specifically in the forthcoming practice of Carla Meyer-Kleynhans whose openness around the subject of queer identity and personal journey spotlights this exact issue. Indeed, the almost diaristic quality, bold angle shots, light-batched compositions and intimate atmospheres of her practice embody the realities of queer+ trans people searching for a sense of belonging, questioning our core ability to connect and understand. The gaze of the camera expands to encompass a symbiosis of intimate and outer gaze, an experience beyond the documentation of an individual journey - it inhabits a shared consciousness that reflects the societal pressures queer+ trans people face in other to shatter the conventional interpretations of gender.
Speaking with Meyer-Kleynhans it is clear that her visual voice and identity are intimately related. Deep diving into her background and influences, here Meyer-Kleynhans explains her premises and leads us through the challenging journey of the social representations of gender.
Joana Alarcão: As an introduction for the readers can you describe your photographic practice?
Carla Meyer-Kleynhans: In short, I love to keep records of life around me - moments I consider important, people I love, and anything that has an impact on me. My work helps me process ideas and feelings visually, and my most basic aim is to ignite some sort of feeling in the viewer of my photographs.
The more specific version is that my work speaks about queerness & belonging, gender identity, and the watching of queer bodies. I once said that “Queer belonging exists somewhere between being observed and existing at ease with who we are”. “Who are we? And what do we need to work through in order to see ourselves as ordinary?”
In my photographic practice, I interrogate my own experience of queerness and address these types of questions visually. I try to photograph in a way that elevates whatever I point my camera at. When shooting, I consider the representation of even the most ordinary subject very important.
JA: Can you recall the first time you were attracted to Photography? What motivated you to use this medium?
CMK: Growing up, my mother had a (slightly outdated for the early 2000's) 35mm wind-up film camera. I'm not sure whether it was a fascination with photography that drew me to it, or the fact that I didn't understand the complexities of film or why I wasn't allowed to touch the camera. I can close my eyes now and picture the camera making an appearance in almost every childhood memory I have. Later on, my mother bought a tiny point-and-shoot camera that I was allowed to use, under supervision. I can clearly recall at about age 10, feeling very frustrated at being told that photographing a pair of my mother’s drying underwear on a wire coat hanger was not the "right" kind of thing to photograph.
I was dying to point the camera at objects and people around me. I suppose people have an innate need to document their experiences and feelings - we just find different mediums in which to do it.
JA: In a previous interview you mentioned that “My photographs showcase a symbiosis between the private space and the spectacle”, can you elaborate on this line of thought?
CMK: The spectacle here refers to the watching of queer bodies. The public gaze is always upon us, despite living in a social context where queerness is almost normalised. I can only speak to my own lived experiences and second-hand experiences of my partner who is transgender and queer.
It can often feel that existing as an openly queer person or a trans person, and receiving societal validation for it, requires a specific performance of queerness. To put it bluntly, you are only celebrated when you are the right kind of queer. The funny one, the over-the-top dramatic one, the fashionable one etc. It becomes hard to separate the person you feel you need to be for validation when in public, from the person you are in private.
My experience has been that if I don’t consistently interrogate my own identity, I’ll easily assimilate with the identity I’m expected to uphold, even when I’m alone. I try to capture images that portray vulnerability, often shot in the private space, while still exploring the way that societal pressures and expectations infiltrate our minds.
“It can often feel that existing as an openly queer person or a trans person, and receiving societal validation for it, requires a specific performance of queerness.”
JA: Your photography has a very distinct composition, with warm and neutral colours and close-ups. Where did this aesthetic come from?
CMK: I've always been a light-chaser. I'm attracted to the subtleties of how the smallest ray of light can fall flawlessly upon someone's face or illuminate a corner of a room that was previously never noticed. Suddenly something that may have been cold and lifeless, becomes warm and full of depth and character. People are the same - the right amount of warmth and consideration can transform someone.
Regarding the close-ups, it isn't very often we see people around us so close up. I like the play between the confrontational nature of a subject, very close, making eye contact, and the element of the external gaze: the viewer, a spectator looking back at the subject with consent.
JA: After seeing your work featured in ArtPil and being attracted by your aesthetic, I wanted to speak to you not only because of your unique visual style, but also for the fact that you are using your photography to shine a light on social gender transitions, and how it's viewed by the world. Could you explain your perspective and why you’ve dedicated your fine art practice to emphasise it?
CMK: The Latin meaning of “in camera”, directly translates to “in private”. There is something about capturing the most vulnerable journey and shedding light on it. The hegemonic media has created many false representations of gender. I aim to dismantle this in a way and showcase its individuality and state of flux. My partner is a trans man, and our journey together, from dating each other in a single-sex all girls high school, to going through life being viewed as a heterosexual married couple, has drawn me to capturing the manner in which domesticity is not linear.
JA: We live in a time of political turmoil, do you think art plays an important role in raising awareness of social or political problems?
CMK: Art has been a form of protest and documentation since the early days of humanity. From rock paintings to oil portraits of the French Revolution, to modern day NFT's, we've always found a way to depict the struggle of humanity. It is more important than ever before to use our platforms as a voice.
“The hegemonic media has created many false representations of gender. I aim to dismantle this in a way and showcase its individuality and state of flux. My partner is a trans man, and our journey together, from dating each other in a single-sex all girls high school, to going through life being viewed as a heterosexual married couple, has drawn me to capturing the manner in which domesticity is not linear.”
JA: Back in 2019, you were shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Award with the series “The Symbiosis of Belonging”. What can you tell us about the experience?
CMK: This was an incredible experience that really opened up my world. It was the first time I had ever left South Africa, and to have an opportunity to meet so many talented artists from around the world was invaluable. I am still in touch with a few of these artists today. Sony and the World Photography Organisation changed my life by gifting me my Sony a7 iii camera as part of the prize - it was a piece of equipment that was financially far out of reach. I am forever grateful for the opportunity.
JA: As an artist what would you say is your biggest accomplishment?
CMK: Something like this is very subjective, but I think that my biggest accomplishment would be that I have proven to myself that I am capable, and worthy of having a voice. Artistry is a very public journey of the self. It has been a way for me to work through trauma, and process joy. It continues to be an ongoing accomplishment of mine.
JA: Since your works are so much about your journey, how do you approach your creative process? Is it an intuitive moment or do you prepare the shots beforehand?
CMK: It's a bit of both really, I've always loved to blur the lines between documentary and stylised photography. Much of the fashion work that I do dictate pre-planned shots and mood boards, however I do find that the most candid shots within that are the real gems. This work has brought me to places where I am able to hone my technical skills, and experiment further on a personal level with the documentary style.
JA: Since graduating, you have delved full-time into fashion photography. How does it correlate with your art practice aesthetics?
CMK: Shifting out of a university context where I had the privilege of a space to create any art I pleased and starting to work full time in the fashion industry has been a huge adaptation for me. In many ways, the photographs I take daily don’t correlate at all with my personal art practice. For example, I very rarely have the chance to create conceptual photographs for work. However, I am still able to influence the way in which I represent the bodies I photograph.
Aesthetically, some of my recent photographs are similar to my personal art practice. I try to ensure that the way that I light a model is indicative of the deeper concept and showcases the nuances of beauty that are not traditionally focused upon in fashion photography.
“The way that I light a model is indicative of the deeper concept and showcases the nuances of beauty that are not traditionally focused upon in fashion photography.”
JA: How do you manage your time between your art practice and your full-time job? What do your days look like?
CMK: This is something that I can't sugar-coat. Being a full-time artist is not glamorous. It's long days, creative fatigue, early mornings, late nights, and weekends. One truly needs to love it. It can be difficult to be motivated to pursue personal work after a full week of client work. However, the people that I've met along the way, and the support of others has enabled me to make it work. I've always wanted to be a photographer, and although it isn't how it gets shown in the movies, I wouldn't trade it for any other career. As taxing as it is, it's equally as rewarding.
JA: Do you have any artists, writers, or thinkers you admire?
CMK: Chella Man and Alok Vaid-Menon are two artists that I draw huge inspiration from in terms of disrupting gender-norms and showcasing beauty.
JA: In conclusion, where do you see your artistic practice evolving to in future?
CMK: The realm of digital media is constantly shifting. I try not to limit myself in terms of opportunities and goals. I see myself having more freedom in terms of clients and the work that I choose to create, while still finding time to document my personal feelings and experiences in the world. I am excited to see what the future holds in terms of formats and medium.
About Carla Meyer-Kleynhans
Carla Meyer-Kleynhans is a fine art and fashion photographer living in Cape Town, South Africa.
She completed her Honours in Fine Art at Michaelis UCT School of Fine Art, with a specialisation in photography in 2019. In this 4 year period she produced multiple photographic projects, some print series and others in the form of photo books. The projects, although nuanced in style, all aimed to explore and document her personal life and relationship in relation to queerness, gender and belonging.
In 2018, she was shortlisted for the student category of the Sony World Photography Competition for her series "the Symbiosis of Belonging", and flown to London to exhibit in the annual Sony World photography Exhibition at Somerset house, which later traveled internationally.
Since graduating in 2019, Carla has delved full-time into the world of Fashion photography, and has been creating more commercial work for the past 2 years. She simultaneously continues to create photographs that add to her ever-growing personal body of work too.
Ultimately, Carla aims to merge her practices and contribute work in the fashion industry that helps shift the narrative of fashion photography into a more fluid portrayal of beauty and gender. Whilst the worlds of Fine-Art and Fashion are as similar as they are different, the overlapping of these two facets of photography have enabled her to bring an element of defiance against how the fashion industry has traditionally focused on the gender binary.