ZAIRA ZAROTTI
Music by Beethoven - Interpreted by Jonathan Biss - Sonata No 23 in F minor for piano Op 57 Appassionata via Free Music Archive.
ZAIRA ZAROTTI
PHOTOGRAPHER
Venice, Italy
One of the Instagram posts that touched me the most recently was photographer Zaira Zarotti’s write up about motherhood. Just after the birth of her daughter Flora, she shared a rare honest account of the brutally hard shift that is becoming a mother. The tenderness, the abnegation, the physical pain and the hardest: the loss of self. Read More
A few photos I took at Zaira’s home in Venice…
It was a courageous move when the narrative around motherhood has to be akin to a fairytale. Wait… fairytales are full of horror stories. But note that the step mum is the baddy, never the mum. As a mother of 3, I resented the solitude, the omerta around negative feelings, and the injunction to look the part, glowing and efficient. I felt ugly, disorganised, angry and in permanent pain, and that for years. But I never said a word, too worried to be labelled a bad mother.
I admire the bravery Zaira had when she took her phone and typed it as it is. She said it’s hard, out loud, to her 50K plus followers.
But I don’t want to focus on the tough message here because if you’ve ever met Zaira, you’d have a mental image of this smily, bubbly, insanely generous and kind woman. You’d visualise her world where people and Maine Coon cats wander inside Dutch Masters’ live paintings.
When I came to Venice to photograph Zaira, she invited Wendell and I to stay in her parent’s home, just next door. She cooked up a Venetian feast with a pièce de résistance of Bigoli in salsa which I still dream about today. In a chiaroscuro kitchen, she prepared each ingredient under the guidance of her adorable mum, painter Dorina Petronio, while her Dad, painter Luciano Zarotti, was helping set the table. We walked through her parents’ picture perfect studios and visited the lush garden with giant fig and persimmon tree and veggie patch near which Zaira’s partner Francesco has set up his Raku’s studio. All smiles, Francesco and Zaira set up their usual photo spot in the garden, placing a big wooden table against a grey textured wall which has become their signature backdrop. We filmed the destruction of the odd and broken pieces (which they now fix and sell in a special wabi-sabi section of their store) and the making of brand new raku pieces witnessing their baptism of fire.
It was two days to remember! I've been dreaming to go back and do it again. Until then, please read my interview of Zaira and I hope you’ll love reading her answers as much as I did.
Connect with Zaira
INTERVIEW
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Zaira is a Middle Eastern name, Arabic specifically, and means "flowery."
I was born in Venice, a mercantile and seafaring city, which since the beginning of its millennial history, nurtures a privileged relationship with the Muslim world having been “the most oriental city among Western cities”. For this reason, some Arabic names became popular as early as the nineteenth century. Zaira is one of them, although in our days it disused becoming a rather rare name… My parents liked it very much for this reason, but also for its meaning.
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I was born in Venice at the Hospital San Giovanni e Paolo (known as the Scuola Grande di San Marco), a place whose renaissance architecture brings to mind a museum rather than a hospital. Every time I walk by it, I can't believe I was born there! I still live in Venice, but outside the historic center, in a country area a few kilometers away called "Rivera del Brenta."
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I mostly speak Italian, but at home I also speak venetian which more than an Italian dialect is a real language in current use. I also speak English much worse than I write it… with a dramatically strong Italian accent.
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I do many things, but if you mean what I do to support myself I would say I am a still life, food & wine photographer. Together with my partner Francesco we are also the founders of a ceramic studio called “The Freaky Raku” for which I am mainly involved in art direction, visual communication and marketing.
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I do not have a particular artwork, but more a multitude of artists whose vision has definitely influenced my visual culture and aesthetic taste. These include mainly European painters of the 19th century and photographers of the second half of the 20th century.
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No, I didn't. When I was 6 I wanted to work in the circus being a dancer on top of horses, when I was 12 I wanted to be a underwater archaeologist, when I was 18 I finally got interested in photography.
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Extravagant depends on one's point of view, I guess talking to plants can be odd... trees are very good listeners, their presence inspires me at the same time awe and respect, I like to talk to them. I have never said this before…
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Definitely spending time on set, setting up the still life scenes that I love to photograph makes me lose track of time. I work exclusively with natural light, and sometimes I wait for the "right" light by patiently contemplating and waiting. For me, it is a form of meditation, an intimate space where a silent dialogue can be established between me and the subject.
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I'm still waiting for it!
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I'm in it at the moment and I'm not over it: becoming a mom made me lose my old self and that exclusive relationship I had with being creative, being an artist.
Sometimes I find this very difficult, I feel nostalgia for what I was before, I feel that I am missing a piece of myself even if it is filled out by something new that is immeasurably valuable. I know that this will strengthen my person and also my being an artist, but I think I will see the benefits of it after time, because the immediate is more about setting aside a piece of yourself for the love of another living being.
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My favourite word is Flora, and not just because it is my daughter's name.
Flora is the plant world, it is life itself, it is for me the divine in nature. I am not a religious or believing person, but my perception of "god" is tangible to me in the presence of the beauty of Creation, especially in the spontaneous perfectness of nature.
I am as moved by the beauty of a centuries-old tree as I am by the short splendour of a blooming flower.
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Only three? I would say integrity, emotional intelligence/empathy, being honest (with oneself and others).
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I have a passion for brocante and flea markets where I often buy props that I use for my photographs. I have a particular fondness for pewter items, but I don't buy to collect, I only buy to use if I have an idea in mind.
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Do you mean a material possession? I would say the artistic legacy of both my parents.
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I would like to be less Italian than this and say something fancy but ... pizza.
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Questo immenso non sapere. Conversazione con alberi, animali e il cuore umano by Chandra Candiani (Giulio Einaudi editore 2021), an Italian author. I don't think it has ever been translated but in English the title could be: “This immense not knowing. Conversation with trees, animals, and the human heart”. It is a beautiful book, full of poetry, and that I've been reflecting on for a long time.
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An Italian series entitled "Mare Fuori”. It is about the story of a group of young guys inside the juvenile prison in Naples. It's not my genre at all, but after a couple of episodes I was completely taken by the story and by the very spontaneous way of acting. In fact, it has been very successful in Italy!
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The last movie I saw was “The whale” by Darren Aronofsky… a very sad movie but one that I really loved because of the way it was made. The final scene moved me to tears.
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Lately I've been listening on repeat to Marlon Williams a New-Zealand songwriter who plays alternative/indie music, Fia Forsström a spiritual singer/songwriter who with her inspirational lyrics empowers the listener to drop deeper into themselves, and Youth Novels, a Poland-based duo whose music ranges from quasi-acoustic and dreamy ambient soundscapes to alternative tunes.
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If I knew how to categorise myself within a specific field I would say a name... but because it is a very cross-cutting area that involves so many things, it is difficult! I could nominate Jamie Beck for her beautiful floral still life work.
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Item descriptionI like very much Julia Ether, a visual artist and ceramicist based in Portugal.
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Anywhere where nature is really beautiful and untouched, in a cottage in the countryside, possibly near a forest and a natural place to swim. Possibly in Italy, France or in the north of Europe.
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My next project will be to create on commission from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, a series of still lives inspired by the paintings of the museum's collection. I can't wait to get started!
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