Our Muse: Dina Laraki
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Written by Dina Laraki
My name is Dina and I'm from Madrid, Spain. I moved to the UK a while ago, in between that I had also moved to the US for a year with my family when I was very young, and we also lived in Cape Town, South Africa for a year. These changes are very much a part of my story. I suppose you can say that my parents liked adventures, so this was more of a lifestyle choice and by the third move I had gotten very used to saying goodbye to friends and adapting to new environments. There are a lot of perks to that, I know that it's not everyday that you can say you were travelling to (and living in) different continents from such a young age. I was fluent in English at 5 years old and grew up with different mother tongues around me (my father is half Spanish, half Moroccan and my mother is from Equatorial Guinea).
Those early experiences definitely informed and shaped the multidimensional reality of who I am and where I come from, and I had to make a conscious effort to learn about what that meant in the context of navigating a world that insists on boxing you under one clear-cut label.
The labels used to hurt because of how constricted I felt in them, until I realised that I no longer wanted to make myself small in order to fit into them. Now I like to challenge those labels, and I do so through my photography, particularly my self-portraiture. In my artistic journey, I learnt very early on how powerful and effective art can be when it comes to storytelling and I found a medium in which to pour out a lot of what had been cooking inside me over the years. My self-portraiture was born out of an intense need to tell my story in my own terms, to exist fully in all the parts of me that make me who I am and to celebrate the richness of my heritage.
I figured that I must not be the only one to feel this way, and that's where my 'Identites' project comes in. This project is a space to connect with others who feel the same way we do, to tell stories we may not have seen reflected enough out there and to celebrate ourselves and one another. There is a special kind of bravery that it takes to sit in front of a camera and allow yourself to be seen. That interaction between the person I'm photographing and myself is powerful enough, but I wanted to accompany the visual story-telling with the words of the women I photograph, in order to honour that moment in time. I felt it was important for their voices to be heard beyond a striking portrait, and that's how this project will be displayed once it's completed.
I admire my drive and my commitment to myself, which has taken years to build. I can literally feel my heart flutter and my eyes sparkle when I talk about the things I'm passionate about. That's what pushes me to do what I do and just like I recognise that passion within me, I recognise it in others too. That's why photographing people is so fulfilling to me, there's a soul-language that is created when I photograph people and it fills me with so much joy. It's one of the places where connection is born, and I think in this digital age where we exist chronically online it is even more important to seek out real human connection in whatever form it takes.
My favourite Elore Collection piece is the Floral Crawler Earring - I love the subtle yet powerful statement that it makes when you wear it. The entire Floral Collection is so beautiful because it combines flowers and jewellery - which are two of my favourite things - and it has been designed to evoke beauty within you. I also love that as beautiful as the pieces look in pictures, they are so much more beautiful in person!
