Mike van der Ent Pasarella, is a photographer from the Netherlands. He was born in Poortugaal, which is the village and not the country, nearby Rotterdam. He is specialized in fashion and art photography, but does work on journalistic cases time by time. Story telling is the key factor in his work, even if it is about reportage photography. He also keeps looking for the unique view, telling the story from a certain angle, which is new for the viewers.
In FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2013, he will present a photo exhibition titled 'Beauty Within'.
Q&A with Mike van der Ent Pasarella
What inspires you in general?
Everything that gets in decline through life and is made with passion can inspire me. Could be a brick wall, old, filled with dirt, graffiti, wall flowers. But it also could be an old chest manually decorated. It is mostly the combination between labor, materials and age. As an example, I once visited Rome and walked through the old ruins. But when I saw the Colosseum, it just caught me. I sat down there for 5 hours. Looking at it, just looking and was amazed about the creation, the creative view, the vision and the labor that has been into it. Imaging how it was back in time.
I am based in the city The Hague.
What is it like to be a young designer in your city/country?
The city is not as busy as Amsterdam for example. But a city full of creativity. I love living and working here. It is always a struggle to being seen as a young designer, but in The Hague there is a platform to show your work and could have audiences.
What place/city do you find inspiring?
It is hard to choose just one. I am deeply in love with Berlin, such a vibrant and diverse city and also a place where literally two cultures comes together. Another inspiring place is the Arabic region, especially North Africa. The designs and architecture are so amazing, diverse and inspiring, making me just drown into it.
What is the concept behind your latest creation?
It is the search of the beauty within. Getting back to the basic, finding real interaction, sending real hugs, not hiding behind illusions of a self-made world and just being the person who you are from within. It will actually rediscover your inner child, I believe. For me it was a route back to where it all started. Making things and not retouching what has been made. Capture and not rebuild. It is good to show yourself with fashion, arts and items, to express who you are. But it has a difference in hiding behind a wall of what you want to be like. We are all busy on showing people how we want to be seen, instead of working to get where we want to be or to become. New media types are one of the tools, which cause this new way of communications. During some test work, I found what live is really about. No makeup, styling and retouching. I have seen how we can really be, just, beautiful.
Describe your collection/creation in three words.
Beauty. Pure. Reflection.
Did you always wanted to work in the field of fashion?
Fashion has always attracted me. I blame it to my mother. She was a fashion designer when I was little. Always hearing the sewing machine and wearing custom made clothing. I am thankful to be a child of a creative mind. Due to this question, I am thinking about it for the first time. It seems like the past just made me go this way. I felt in love with it at a young age and now it is a part of living.
Do you have a muse? If yes, who is it and why?
Adriana Lima. It is because of her lips, such an amazing curve, enchanting.
Who is your favorite fashion designer?
It might be a cliché, but I believe she made todays fashion. Gabrielle Chanel. If she is my favorite all time. Yes. But for my favorite today, I just went to the exposition of Jean Paul Gaultier. And I have to say that his works are amazing and beyond any boundaries. They're insane, well made and unique.
What is so far your greatest experience in your 'fashion' career?
Working on international fashion shows, I learned a lot and met many great minds. They're inspiring.
What is on your music list while you are doing creations?
That will be Amy Winehouse and followed by Jazz and World Music. It is music that is never the same and known from its improvisation. It is like nature, always moving on a basic path with a big repertoire of variations. I can recommend everybody to once visit a true jazz bar, enjoying the amazing sounds.
What made you smile today?
I got a text message from a client who is thankful for working together, making me smile in morning.
What is the latest thing you bought for yourself?
It was a print of my latest work to add to my portfolio book. If it has to be something really for myself, non-work related. It was the latest CD from Amy Winehouse. I played it over and over again.
What can we expect from you in the future?
It is hard to say, future changes all the time. Working hard to contribute and bring something different to fashion and fashion photography. One thing I can promise that work will make you think. I'm generally modest. I want a lot to learn, grow a lot and always hope to be able to collaborate with established photographers and designers in the industry.
I love the combination of people with fabrics, materials and the possibility of storytelling. Fashion is about expression and that is what I love to capture – a unique combination with unlimited possibilities.
Among all your photographs, what is the most significant one that greatly satisfy you by now?
Of course what I am going to show at the exhibition this year. But apart from that, it should be a picture from my ‘Woman of the Dark’ series, showing a woman who is in the control of balancing on her toes.
What could be the main reason that makes fashion change over time?
I think because of the minor changes of generations and what we are influenced by. I’d like to see it as a change in muse of the creativeness or the reinvention which happens all along. Every time minor things change, and then over time there will be a major change. It happens in fashion, arts, designs, architecture, everywhere.
Can you describe in brief about what is the real natural beauty in your eyes?
It is the part that makes a person unique and mostly what we call the ugly parts. But looking at a bigger picture, natural beauty is a four-year-old child. It is pure, no boundaries of live and no reason to hide, even as the child is completely covered in leftovers.
Can the underlying idea of your photo exhibition be seen as a criticism to today’s ‘fake’ culture?
Yes indeed. We see it in all kind of different disciplines. Not knowing what most of our food is made of. Not knowing how we communicate. For example, at New Year’s evening we are not hugging and kissing each other, but we are sending text messages. We are talking about what we do on social network websites, but mostly it looks better written than the truth. We retouch anything we can and are losing what beauty was before. I do understand showing yourself different is something natural. But looking back at the true nature, like birds mating dance, the main difference is the amount. We are growing to something permanently fake, a self-made matrix.
Credits:
Photographer: Mike van der Ent Pasarella
Website: www.pasarella.nl
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