Back to the Future with Irina Werning

: 30th Oct 2012

The South America tour continues...

Following the exciting launch of the Back to the Future tour in Santiago, Chile, Irina went on to Lima, Peru for the second stop in the five-country schedule, made possible by Sony Latin America and WPO.

After winning first prize in the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards, Portraiture category, Irina Werning’s perfectly executed and whimsical diptych portraits of then and now caught the attention of the awards sponsor, Sony in Latin America, who organised this tour.

Irina started her tour in Santiago, Chile, where we first spoke to her in an interview you can listen to here.

WPO’s Astrid Merget spoke to Irina again after Lima, Peru to ask how it all went.

AM: So how did it all go?

IW: Great! As usual.

AM: Any issues?

IW: Nothing big, but every shoot is unique and brings it’s own challenges. In the picture by the statue for example, it was difficult for Frank because many cactus had grown next to the statue, so it was hard to get him in the exact spot as he would get pinched by the cactus all the time… poor guy.

Frank Martí, Lima, Peru (Irina Werning) Behind the scenes, Irina on set, recreating Frank Martí, Lima, Peru

AM: Does something like this disturb your exact recreation of the photo and would you ever edit the cacti out of the shot in post-production?

IW: No, I leave it as it is. That’s part of the fun to see how it’s changed!

AM: Are you enjoying the tour thus far?

IW: Yes its great. I love to meet people from all over and after emailing for so long I feel like we know each other, so it’s amazing to finally meet them.

AM: Out of the four shoots you have done so far, two in Santiago, Chile and two in Lima, Peru, which one has been your favourite and why?

IW: The one of the 4 cousins in Santiago, because it was a big challenge to direct 4 people.

IW: I also enjoyed the picture Chris in Lima. It was amazing to get this expression out of her once again. We took a lot time until we figured out what she had to do to get the expression right. She actually had to scream "no!" which was what she was probably doing in the original picture!

Chris Kuahara, Lima, Peru (Irina Werning)

At both stops, Irina also presented her work to students and attending press, whilst WPO’s founder Scott Gray and Sony Latin America hosted guests alongside an exhibition of Irina’s Back to the Future photographs.

Next stop on the tour is set for the week of November 12^th in Panama City, followed by Caracas in Venezuela.

On November 20^th, Irina will host a live Q&A session on WPO’s Facebook page. Don’t miss out and start thinking of the questions you might wish to ask Irina, live!

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October/November 2012

Author: Astrid Merget