Matilda Vidal

Welcome to another Orange Peel Art Collective blog post!!

Today we are in conversation with Photographer Matilda whos work centres around the idea of “Home”! Keep your eye out for more of her work featured on our platform over the summer! ENJOY !

Q1: What is your Name, Age, and Where are you based?

Hi! I’m Matilda, I am 22-year-old and I am a photographer based in Tottenham, London.

Q2: How did you first get into your creative practice/ work?

I’m French/English and have grown up in France. I moved here for my film studies. As I
started university, I got to meet loads of fellow creatives and collaborate with them for
films, music videos and photoshoots.
However, for photography, it started when I was a lot younger, I would always be the one
taking pictures at parties or whilst travelling. It came very naturally to me and has always
been a part of my life, there was no major event or deciding moment that pushed me to
start taking pictures, it just happened, and I went along with it!
I got into 35mm photography in the past 3 years and haven’t gone back to digital since. I
learned a lot from the 35mm “discipline”, not being able to see the result straight away
and being restricted to 36 or 24 exposures. I makes me think before I take the picture
rather than after.

Q3: Are there any main or overarching themes you explore in your work?

One overarching theme for me has been the concept of home, familiarity and
domesticity. Of course, I am very privileged to even have a home and some people do
not have a place to call their permanent home. Homelessness is an essential part of the
story that is crucial to portray and talk about as, in a city like London, it implies a lot of
injustice and inequalities. I am planning to do something in collaboration with the
homeless shelter that I have been volunteering at.

Q4: Highlight one of your biggest inspirations!

Christopher Nunn is a photographer I have discovered in the past year that has really
changed my photography. His work Edith (2013), composed pictures taken whilst
clearing Edith’s flat after she passed away, taught me a lot about storytelling in
photography.

Image from Christopher Nunns project Edith.

I also really like the brutal honesty of eastern European contemporary photography in
which the theme of home is often present, either as a sort of nostalgia and longing, or as
a conflicting relationship. As Andy Galdi Vinko puts it talking about her work
HomeSickLand: “I have spent a lot of time abroad, longing for someplace else, like many
of my eastern European contemporaries, believing that my place and happiness lie
somewhere out there”.

Q5: Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

In five years, I would love to make images that make a difference and talk about relevant
social topics. I want activism to be an essential part of my photography practice. I would
love to be working on a research-based projects, to produce relevant and well thought out
series of photographs!