Kristina Quintano, who has helped me a great deal in the Forgotten Landscapes project as a photographer, promoter and motivational builder, inquired if I would be interested in doing cover and select article photography for the third issue of 55Pluss, a prominent Norwegian magazine that she is Chief Editor for.
I am amazed with Kristina and her creative spirit. On top of her editing work, she translates, owns her own publishing company Quintano Publishing, passionately uplifting Maltese book world from the inside out and is a strong activist and helper in the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe.
Her Maltese heritage and ties with the land are similar to mine in a sense that we are both foreigners with deep memories of this tiny little island. It was and is a pleasure and honor to work with her.
I accepted with open arms and under with that, we made our way to beautiful Norway to meet the 55Pluss creative team to discuss the concept of the cover art. There I was, sitting in a foreign country with creative minds with the collective idea to produce unique artistic photography on Eva Joly.
Researching on previous photography on Eva, I saw that it might be difficult to capture her in a unique way. She appears to have a classic “glasses holding” stance that made her prominent in many other magazines making her bold and intimidating. I wanted to break that mold or at least do something different.
After Norway we made our way to Belgium in the beautiful city of Brussels to the heart of the European Union offices and on the eve of the United States of America elections! Truly this historic date will intertwine with each other. After the security checks and my official “press pass” I made my way into Eva’s office and began to take photography as Kristina asked questions. On-the-fly photography and the attempt to capture something.
Into the hallways, against grey walls and windows I snapped my photographs and under the pressure of time, I flowed through the camera and thought about the whirlwind of creativity I have stepped into.
I feel alive…
Mark M.
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