A new art space has been introduced to the art world since November in the basement floor of Cafe Dulcinea, on Beyoğlu Meşelik Street. This space which stands out from the traditional galleries both with its alternative architectural structure and its philosophy, has also made a reputation for giving opportunities to the young and less recognised contemporary artists to display their work as well as more famous ones.

Claire Cantais, whose exhibition "Attempts at Being Oneself" will continue through March 24th , is a young photographer. When I got to Dulcinea to interview her, she had not arrived yet, so my first encounter was with her photographs. I have to admit that I was really impressed. Later, when she arrived with some muhallebi (a Turkish pudding) in her hand. Just when I started thinking that she did not take very long to discover the wonderful Turkish desserts, I found out that she had previously lived in İstanbul for a year. Cantais with her slim build, her soft voice and calm way of talking, with her existence in general, creates a feeling of gentleness. The same feeling is also apparent in her photographs. Cantais is concerned with reaching the souls of the bodies she is photographing. This is why the souls become bare as well as the bodies in her photographs. Claire Cantais photographs the moment when the subjects feel like themselves and are expressing it.

The female body, especially in its naked form, has been used in art history through out centuries. Today, especially after the discussions on the use of the female body as an image, started and lead by the feminist movement in the seventies, artists have become more aware, sensitive and deliberate in using this subject. The female body is no more used randomly as a figure or for purely aesthetical reasons. On the other hand, increasingly, the media consumes the female body as a tool of advertisement. We have become so accustomed to seeing the image of the half or fully naked female body all around us that let alone feeling startled by these images, we do not even pay any attention to them any more. The young photographer is also dealing with naked female bodies, but her approach and her aim is rather different. You can not just walk past her photographs at one glance. These images force you to see them and hesitate for a moment to think about them. Perhaps because these images of the female body are far from the "ideal" imposed by the media. Most of the images are of a naked woman who has past her middle age. This is not a common image to be displayed. We are more used to ignoring the aged female body. Some cultures even force us to forget that it exists. However in these photographs, there is something highly aesthetical about these photographs, something, perhaps Cantais's way of using the light, draw you right into them.

Why do you prefer nudity in your work?

I am trying to catch what is pure and natural. I am using nudity as a tool to get to the depths of a person, to reach her soul. People are always disguising themselves with clothes. The disguise disappears when they take off the clothes.

Do these photographs refer to or make a comment about the consumption of female body in the media?

Perhaps, but it is not the main focus of my photographs. I am certainly against the artificial, digitally manipulated images of the female body, but a lot of things have been said and done about this in art already. I am rather reacting to the use of the body in contemporary art. Today, in visual art, the body is most often represented in pornographic or violent ways for provocation of feedback. It is hard to come across bodies in their pure, natural state, with a gentle or soft feeling. However, the purpose of my photographs is not to judge this. I prefer to stay outside of these discussions, taking a rather gentle, non-judging stand point.

Especially with your use of light, you present these bodies really beautifully although they do not fit the "ideal" standards. Is this something that you especially want to point out?

Yes, I want them to look beautiful because I look at them with love and I want to present them best as I can.

Are you close to your models?

Yes! The oldest woman in the photographs is my mother. I usually prefer to work with the people I am close to. My best friend and my sister are people I work with most. I need to be intimate with the people I work with because the work involves love, and it has to come from the heart. Most of the time I spend a lot of time with my models and have long conversations with them. The photographs are only a part of the work. The other part is the moments I share with my models. I have some ideas for a short film which will also include these moments. These are really very special moments for me.

Are you deliberately trying to avoid erotism in your photographs?

I am working on a project now in which the photographs I take have the possibility of carrying an erotic edge. However, this will definitely be from a female perspective because I am sick of the way erotism is always used through the male perspective.

Some of the postures you have photographed your mother in recall some classical postures representingideal beauty in art history. Are you aiming to make a point on how an aged body can also be beautiful?

Yes, of course I find my mother beautiful and want to show her that way. I do certainly believe that aged bodies are also beautiful.

I am really interested in the fact that you are working with your mother as a model. Can you talk about this a little bit?

My mother has been posing for me ever since my first year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. She is used to it and it has always been a great thing that we share. Perhaps it is an advantage that my mother is rather old because younger mothers, or young women in general, might get tense worrying about how their bodies would look better when they are posing. My mother is mature with long years of life experience. Therefore, she acts relaxed and natural in front of the camera. Have you ever done modelling?

Yes, but I prefer to take photographs instead of modelling. I usually do not like to appear in my own photographs, but sometimes I do a pose myself which would be too difficult to explain to a model. Do you learn something about yourself from these modelling experiences?

Yes. I get in front of the camera only in certain moods and later, when I look at those pictures, I recognise those moods and understand them better.

How does communicating with people when they are naked differ from when they are fully dressed? People are giving a lot more of themselves when they are naked, so you must treat them with much more sensitivity.

Yes.

This sensitivity is reflected through your photographs.

Yes, I value this because I want my models to reflect whatever they want to. I never push them into doing anything, especially about taking their clothes off. Even if someone accepts to pose naked, if I feel that she is not ready, I prefer to wait a little longer.

There are also the photographs of a couple in this exhibition.

Yes, I have photographed my mother with her boyfriend.

What was the experience of photographing a couple like? Do you work with male models at all?

No, I always work with women. These pictures are also about a woman next to a man. I am still focused on the woman; it was her face, body and posture that I was paying attention to first when I was taking these pictures. The man was used in a complementary way in these pictures. Maybe in the future I will do more work about men, but at the moment I am concerned with women as subject matter.

Are you choosing to work with women as an exploration of your own personal identity as a female or you just feel that it is easier for you to communicate with women on a more intimate level?

Both, I think.

What kind of feedback has your exhibition received so far?

The feedback has been rather positive, except that some people from a TV Channel came to interview me and they changed their mind after realising that my images include nudity.

Elif Ara, Cosmopolitan, 1999