Behind the Scenes: Flash & Bones

LFI: How did you and Werner Amann connect?
AnaHell: Werner and I first got in touch over a shooting idea on social media, but it didn’t work out cause I wasn’t in Berlin at the time. Then we met in person, just by chance, when I was exhibiting at a party in Berlin. Since then we’ve shot a few different things together, including a short series in Fuerteventura.

What was it like working together on the Flash & Bones series?
It’s fun working with Werner because he’s more technical and works in a more meticulous way than I do: I’m quite fast and spontaneous/impatient when shooting. I think his lighting is really psychedelic and it adds an extra touch of surrealism to the images. After shooting the series in Fuerteventura we wanted to try something like that again, and that’s how we decided to work on the Flash & Bones series in Milos.

In what way did you two photographers influence each other?
I like to always look for something a bit strange or find a body position that looks slightly unnatural or surreal, and many of my images have poses that are somewhat static. Werner has more of a documentary approach - even when his photos are staged, they appear natural and have a certain kind of movement. Since we both shoot so differently I think the result becomes interesting, because it’s a combination of two very different approaches. The common ground that we share is color.

Did you ever try black and white? What does color mean to you?
I shot in black and white for many years, and in my daily life I usually find colors a bit disturbing. But in a photograph I think colors can be great sensory stimulants and storytellers.

How do you compose your motifs? Most of the time, the location seems to play a big role – as was the case in Flash & Bones.
It really depends on each project, but generally the location and my models play a big part in the creation process. With Flash & Bones we used a very colorful approach and played a lot with nature and the environment that we were in.