AnnMarie Tornabene sends us her latest series called RewildingIn fact, this series of self-portraits represents the culmination of several series created between 2021 and 2024. She accompanies them with this text.
There is a song by the musician Heather Nova called “Make me wild again”. She wrote this to express her need to reconnect with nature, and that need resonates with me greatly. All my life I’ve never felt connected to present day times or places, but in the forest, in nature, I find that connection. However, over the past few years, between moving to another country and getting older, a desire has grown within me to find roots and become more grounded. However, as our world has become uglier, more aggressive, and less connected to humanity, the need to escape the world also remains. No matter what, in the forest, where I come into contact with nature, the desire to become a part of it all grows stronger and stronger.
I started this series of self-portraits in 2021, when we were coming out of the COVID epidemic, when today’s society made even less sense to me and the uncertainty about important aspects of my future was growing. I took these pictures alternately with a Holga film camera and a digital SLR camera, depending on the difficulty of the work, since most of these pictures were taken alone and without help. They were taken both in the forest and in my studio, when I was not well and had physical problems. However, what all these pictures have in common is the desire to connect, to become one with the forces of nature.
AnnMarie Tornabene
AnnMarie Tornabene is a New York-born photographer and professional artist model now based in France. She has been creating self-portraits for over 27 years. Her work explores self-acceptance, body image, spirituality, connections, and other aspects/themes of her personal life. It is narrative, often evoking fairytale and romantic imagery that alludes to contemporary ideologies, including the use of symbolism to create visual metaphors.
AnnMarie graduated with honors from Long Island University, New York with a BFA in Photography. She has won several awards and exhibited internationally. She has been interviewed by women’s groups and reviewed by the New York Times, Newsday and other local newspapers. She has also been published in art magazines and other print media. Her photographs have been featured virtually on art blogs and online art magazines. She has spoken at universities and to artist groups and her images have inspired essays and prose. Her work is included in several personal and institutional collections in France, the US, Canada, the UK, Hungary and Japan.
www.annmarietornabene.net
www.instagram.com/annmarietornabene
