Katrina Cervoni is a fashion/art photographer from Ontario whose work enthrals with odd compositions and saturated tones. According to Katrina, her photography style really began to take root when she attended the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, where she was introduced to art direction and encouraged to experiment. This experimentation is evident in her work, which straddles art photography and fashion photography, often feeling like a merging of the two. Her indulgent images project an immense attention to detail and a firmness of intention. Although much of Katrina’s work is thoughtfully composed, a certain quality of spontaneity and playfulness is abundant amongst the composure, all the while dissecting the beauty in the odd and irregular. – Ariel Shea
1. How would you describe your photos? Playful yet deliberate, peculiar and sometimes comical.
2. Do you carry your camera with you everywhere you go? Not everywhere because my cameras are heavy. If I don’t have a camera, I always have my phone. Although I curse myself when I have to take a photo with my phone instead of my camera, because I know that I could have made it look way more magical on film.
3. What celebrity would you like to shoot most? Nina Simone if she were still here. Iggy Pop would be pretty unreal as well.
4. What animal would you like to be, if not a human? A dolphin.
5. What’s your current obsession? The song and video for Marcia Baila by Les Rita Mitsouko. I must drive my boyfriend nuts for how often I play it. The art direction in the video is amazing and the song is so fun to dance to. For the past few months I’ve also been obsessed with the photography in National Geographic. I bought myself a subscription on a whim and was awestruck by so many of the images. I got really into seeing how the photographers get their shots. They do the most hilarious and crazy shit in order to achieve their photos. I love it.
I’m also just always obsessed with working. I think about photography all the time.
6. Would you like to live forever? No way. I’m kind of scared to see how the world will be in 300 years. Also, I feel like if you knew you were going to live forever, you would lose motivation to live. I guess the inevitability of death keeps me going!
7. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? Definitely not the best advice I’ve been given, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind at this moment: spend your money on experiences, not things. I’m pretty sure I read that in a bathroom stall while peeing.
8. What do you do in your spare time? Hang with friends that I love, travel, ride my bike, read, cook and plant flowers. I love dancing too. I also love spending time alone. I’m the kind of person that really needs a decent amount of alone time in order to function optimally.
9. Do you like having your photo taken? If I’m wearing something good, yeah. My friends make fun of me because I’ve always had this super cheesy pose that for some reason I can’t stop doing when there’s a camera in front of me.
10. Which photographers do you like right now? I love Viviane Sassen’s work — her series “Flamboya” is so stunning. I also love Ringl and Pit. I’ve been delving more deeply into Garry Winogrand’s photos ever since I saw the Outsiders exhibit at the AGO. There are definitely way more photographers I love — too many to list! I have some talented friends that I really admire. My sister Jes is brilliant as well. She does a lot of experimental chemical-based stuff and I’m constantly learning from her.
Shoot the Breeze: Katrina Cervoni
Katrina Cervoni is a fashion/art photographer from Ontario whose work enthrals with odd compositions and saturated tones. According to Katrina, her photography style really began to take root when she attended the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, where she was introduced to art direction and encouraged to experiment. This experimentation is evident in her work, which straddles art photography and fashion photography, often feeling like a merging of the two. Her indulgent images project an immense attention to detail and a firmness of intention. Although much of Katrina’s work is thoughtfully composed, a certain quality of spontaneity and playfulness is abundant amongst the composure, all the while dissecting the beauty in the odd and irregular. – Ariel Shea
1. How would you describe your photos?
Playful yet deliberate, peculiar and sometimes comical.
2. Do you carry your camera with you everywhere you go?
Not everywhere because my cameras are heavy. If I don’t have a camera, I always have my phone. Although I curse myself when I have to take a photo with my phone instead of my camera, because I know that I could have made it look way more magical on film.
3. What celebrity would you like to shoot most?
Nina Simone if she were still here. Iggy Pop would be pretty unreal as well.
4. What animal would you like to be, if not a human?
A dolphin.
5. What’s your current obsession?
The song and video for Marcia Baila by Les Rita Mitsouko. I must drive my boyfriend nuts for how often I play it. The art direction in the video is amazing and the song is so fun to dance to. For the past few months I’ve also been obsessed with the photography in National Geographic. I bought myself a subscription on a whim and was awestruck by so many of the images. I got really into seeing how the photographers get their shots. They do the most hilarious and crazy shit in order to achieve their photos. I love it.
I’m also just always obsessed with working. I think about photography all the time.
6. Would you like to live forever?
No way. I’m kind of scared to see how the world will be in 300 years. Also, I feel like if you knew you were going to live forever, you would lose motivation to live. I guess the inevitability of death keeps me going!
7. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Definitely not the best advice I’ve been given, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind at this moment: spend your money on experiences, not things. I’m pretty sure I read that in a bathroom stall while peeing.
8. What do you do in your spare time?
Hang with friends that I love, travel, ride my bike, read, cook and plant flowers. I love dancing too. I also love spending time alone. I’m the kind of person that really needs a decent amount of alone time in order to function optimally.
9. Do you like having your photo taken?
If I’m wearing something good, yeah. My friends make fun of me because I’ve always had this super cheesy pose that for some reason I can’t stop doing when there’s a camera in front of me.
10. Which photographers do you like right now?
I love Viviane Sassen’s work — her series “Flamboya” is so stunning. I also love Ringl and Pit. I’ve been delving more deeply into Garry Winogrand’s photos ever since I saw the Outsiders exhibit at the AGO. There are definitely way more photographers I love — too many to list! I have some talented friends that I really admire. My sister Jes is brilliant as well. She does a lot of experimental chemical-based stuff and I’m constantly learning from her.