Learn From Experience: Mara Haro
Mara Haro is an artist who uses photography and writing as the main tools. Born in Spain, she graduated from Granada University (degree in Translation & Interpreting) and she moved to Barcelona where she specialized in Photography. Body, genre and sexuality, in confrontation with social values that does not work, are the main focus in her work.
She also loves learning new things, cooking and petting her cat.
Was there ever a difficult situation? How did you react? Tell us.
When I started working as a freelancer photographer I had to learn by myself how to set and keep boundaries when clients wanted too much for not enough.
I had to ask myself what I wanted in my life and what I didn’t want at all.
How do you relate to the environment and the subjects you portray?
In my artistic photography I work with my friends mainly, with friends of friends and with people interested in my work that reach me on social media; at the end all of them usually became friends. It’s Law of Attration.
I also ask you to share a bonus trick among your secret techniques.
Listen to yourself, think carefully what you want to say and find your best way to communicate it through art.
Tell us about your equipment, what kind of cameras do you shoot with?
Always with digital.
I love the Sony Alpha serie.
I had the Alpha 7 and now I have the 7 III with the Tamron 28-75mm only.
I have a Nissin i40 and, basically, that’s all my photo equipment.
I’m a minimalist.
I had tried so many things over the years until I discovered less is more if you know how to use it.
Are there any books you would recommend?
I’m a book lover so this list could be infinite but let’s simplify:
The Complete Color Harmony of Leatrice Eiseman to learn about the psychology of color, any of the last Laia Abril’s books to see how a good photo book should be and, at home, I have Fraülein by Ellen Von Unwerth, a catalogue of the last Araki exhibition in Paris, two of Lina Scheynius and one of Ren Hang.
What stimulates your creativity, what inspires you?
Any kind of art, beautiful daily moments and love.
Mara Haro