INTERVIEW WITH:
DENISE FAIT

The Poetry of Light and Memory: Denise Fait’s Journey into the Dreamlike

In this interview with Cluster, photographer Denise Fait takes us into a world where reality blurs into a poetic dreamscape, and every image she creates holds an invitation to explore memory, beauty, and the subconscious.

Drawing inspiration from the cinematic intensity of Tarkovsky and a lifetime of storytelling across visual mediums, Fait’s work blends personal identity with artistic liberation. Her latest project, The Time Sculptor’s Daughter, now evolving for Cluster’s photography showcase, reveals her ongoing fascination with the sea, textures, and the powerful roles that light and shadow play in shaping human perception.

Hi Denise! Your photography exhibition, The Time Sculptor’s Daughter, draws inspiration from Tarkovsky’s Sculpting in Time. What is it about his work that resonates with you, and how does it influence your approach to photography?

The poetry of the images, how he sets the scenes as if they were a painting from an old oil canvas, from the depths of memory. The drama between shadow and light. The emotions in the subtleties. The book connects deeply with what I think about before taking a photograph.

You describe your aesthetic as transcending reality and entering a dreamlike realm. Can you share your thoughts on how you achieve this ethereal quality in your photography?

I use metaphors a lot in my work to relate to reality, and I believe that this movement is spontaneously communicated through my eye behind the camera. In other words, the infinity of the unconscious is what I try to convey in a photograph, with beauty and textures. I free myself and use whatever is within my reach to show what I am seeing at that moment; I can't rationalise or confine my thoughts to methods.

As a producer with extensive experience in various artistic mediums, how does your background in audiovisual production influence your approach to photography?

Cinema feels like a home, a family, a shelter to me. So when I think about telling a story through an image, I naturally think about location, people, time, how much it costs to be there, and the uncertainties. But suddenly, I look around, and I might have a film ready in front of me, or I’m inside one, and at that moment, I understand what connects with me. I blend my technical experience and go with the flow, as if it were a dance.

As someone open to both entertainment projects and international travel, what new artistic directions or collaborations are you most excited about exploring in the near future?

I feel positive energy to create more and more. Art “branches out” in our lives over time. I believe that my next project will lean toward writing, and I plan to bring out my first book. I’ll bring to the table my experience with the world of arts, motherhood, feminism, and current debates on international law concerning ongoing struggles in these areas. I’m still organising my ideas. I should have more news by 2025.

In your work with the Revibra Europa World Organization, you created campaigns addressing anti-racist and feminist themes. How do you integrate your artistic vision into these campaigns, and what messages are you most passionate about conveying?

First of all, as a Latina-mother-woman living in London, I represent the strengthening of decolonisation in my everyday life. I believe that from now on, I will experience much liberation, and through art, I can express myself very well. Both my anti-system revolt and ideas that can be added to networks. When you understand what’s happening with the world and what’s going on around us, it’s frightening the direction we’re heading in. The idea of sharing other ways of relating to the unconscious could be an option for crossing through the drama of life with more sensitivity.

“I love my solitude. Don't get me wrong, I love being out in the world, but I also need some time to stay alone with myself. I appreciate my own company. I need to reflect, to be inspired.”

Tell us more about the project you are specifically preparing for Cluster Photography & Print.

It’s such a joy to have this partnership that has been growing over the years with Cluster. I already have a bond with them from previous invitations, and in 2022, I presented the first edition of this project, The Time Sculptor’s Daughter. Since then, I’ve immersed myself in this obsession with the sea, so now I’m bringing new locations, new movements, and also some selected portraits from the first edition that resonate with this year’s edition.

Thank you for reading,
Alexandra, Ema & the Cluster Team.

SHOP

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PHOTOGRAPHY & PRINT THE FAIR

INTERVIEW WITH:

DENISE FAIT

The Poetry of Light and Memory: Denise Fait’s Journey into the Dreamlike

“I love my solitude. Don't get me wrong, I love being out in the world, but I also need some time to stay alone with myself. I appreciate my own company. I need to reflect, to be inspired.”