“Surrealism, then, neither aims to subvert realism, as does the fantastic, nor does it try to transcend it. It looks for different means by which to explore reality itself”.
― Michael Richardson, Dedalus Book of Surrealism 2: The Myth of the World

Alessandra Arimbi is a 17 years old prodigy photographer, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has been labelled a surreal photographer because she has a magical touch in her conceptual photo stories, creating the impression of moving images.

Surreal means contouring the hallucinatory quality of a dream. Although it contains a paradoxal quality, since the camera captures the mirror image of a reality as it has happened, it is a very creative style of photography allowing the artist to play with nuances and forms that others wouln’t normally perceive. Therefore, the Surreal Photography is best described as a diverged interpretation of what you see with eyes both open and closed.

Inspired by her own imagination, Alessandra has been juggling well with all these subtle but strong nuances of surrealism ever since she was 14 years old. She has been recreating new worlds infused with a timelessness which takes the viewers to private journeys towards a magical exploration of the unknown lying inside the known.

The conceptual whimsical twist of her work is nonetheless the most interesting condiment. Alessandra Arimbi possesses a raw beauty and innocence of the aesthetics, which can only be so openly visible in very few young photographers these days. When entering Alessandra’s world, one can sense a need to capture feeling, motion, color in a speck of light, engaging in a sort of balance and inner harmony. This balance seems to be a lait-motif for her universe ressembling Charles Dickens „paradiso perduto”: balance is a key element in society, inner feelings and nature. There are plenty of photographs in which the three elements are mingled with equilibrium: water, earth, air. The human insertions are only complimentary colors of an already poised surrounding. Nature becomes a main character of the photo stories. You will definitely hear and see more of Alessandra Arimbi in the next years. Her imagery playground is truly inspiring!

You have mentioned that you love photography because you can capture moments that probably will not happen again, and you can do experiments with your photos. Is this level of mystery and surrealism most present in your recent works, reminiscent of the way you perceive life and art?

My pictures, particularly the surreal ones, do not actually represent the way I perceive life. Because for me art is a medium to express my creativity, that is probably the reason why I like creating surreal pictures, creating an alternate reality which doesn’t exist in real life.

Could you please give us more details about your future plans and project ideas we should look forward to?

I’m planning to make a series based on Les Miserables this year!

What are the forms of art that attract you and what are the elements that appeal to you most?

Whether it is a painting, a picture, a sculpture or a song, any form of art attracts me, actually. It depends on the content.

For more information:
Blog: http://arimbialessandra.tumblr.com
https://www.facebook.com/arimbi.alessandra
Featured in Vogue:
http://www.vogue.it/en/photovogue/Profilo/9d14c27b-9119-4bfc-ab7b-cbcf73ba121c/User