Emotions and sorrows become images thanks to Valentina Gurli‘s attentive and delicate eye. 
Valentina Gurli is an Italian photographer who, through black and white shots in which light and shadows reveal body parts and fragility, tackles the themes of sensuality and femininity.
We asked her a few questions to dig deeper into her career, her style and to reveal what she wants to tell us. 

When and how did you start photographing?

I started taking photographs about ten years ago, initially to immortalise my daughter, who was born a few years earlier, then as time went by it became almost a necessity.

It was a real “flash”: I found a camera from the 1970s in a drawer, an Olympus, analogue of course, with a roll of film still in charge who knows how many years old. I knew something about cameras, having grown up with an uncle who was a photojournalist, so I decided to pick it up and take a picture. From that day on, I never stopped. Of course, the roll of film was very damaged and the first photos were rather poor, but the emotion that started inside me opened my eyes. 

Why did you choose this medium to express yourself?

I didn’t choose photography, it chose me. I always say that I don’t believe in chance and that photography was the gift my daughter gave me when she came into the world. My path was very different as I have a degree in law. The world of art and photography has been a rebirth for me, a return and breathing in a true and authentic way.

What do you like to tell through photography?

What I try to tell through photography is my life, my feelings, the inner evolutions that have accompanied me over the years. The pain but also the beauty and sensuality of the female world.

What is femininity for you?

Femininity is a kind of status. If a woman is feminine, she is always feminine, even in a burlap sack, wrapped up in pyjamas or wearing her make-up in the morning. It is a gift, a privilege that allows you to be the spokesperson for a complex and beautiful universe such as that of women in their most sublime and delicate essence, a sort of natural universal force.

What is sensuality for you?

For me, sensuality is a huge vase where sweetness, intelligence, sensitivity, a pinch of innocence and a natural predisposition to listen to the senses are mixed together in perfect harmony.

Your images manage to naturally recount moments of real intimacy. How do you capture it?

There is a wonderful harmony between me and the women I photograph, a feeling of mutual abandonment in which they try to interpret me through their own experience and their own lives, creating truly unique moments. I am very grateful for this.

What do you think about the censorship of the female body on social platforms?

Censorship on social platforms as it is presented, without any real coherence and meaning, I find it pathetic and hypocritical, the result of a society that wants to be good but is quite the opposite.

Do you think that beyond this, is the attitude towards beauty standards really changing?

The canons of beauty are the real problem for the new generations today, a non-existent, empty beauty, made up of filters that change features and non-acceptance of natural imperfections. This leads to a tragic uniformity in both appearance and personal style. Despite the attempt, which in my opinion has had the opposite effect, of various fashion houses to introduce less perfect and attractive models, we are a long way from acceptance, the key word for a serene existence and coexistence.