Amalia Mauceri
by Meg McCormick
March 3, 2025
Amalia Mauceri
Why did you start taking photos? Did you explore other mediums?
I started when I found an old camera in my attic and I thought I could mess around with it. It wasn't like I had a reckoning, I just started during sophomore year. I had tried other art and taken inspiration from a lot of different mediums, I was creative but still determining my avenue. I also did a lot of writing and I still do. I just fell in love with photography, it caught me by surprise.
Are there photographers who have had a significant impact on your own work?
I love Cece Alana's work and I have Orion Carloto's book. I take inspiration from how they portray the gaze and want to replicate that in my work.
What's the relationship between your writing and your photos like? Do they ever intersect?
They are separate for me most of the time. Sometimes my photography can inspire me to write, I get in a creative zone and I think, how can I expand on this.
How does living in New York City inform your work?
I am honestly overwhelmed being here, as a photographer, because there's unlimited material. In New York it's constant, its people, its noises, its animals, it's everything. Even walking here through the park I was like damn, I wish I had brought my camera.
Amalia Mauceri
Are there any projects you've shot recently that you're especially proud of ?
My favorite project that I've done recently was at home over break with one of my great friends Audrey. I've shot her previously so I learned how to direct her. We didn't go in with any specific ideas for the project, we just wanted to do a shoot. I think that if you take a picture of a pretty girl, it's easy for people to dismiss it as fashion photography or just a picture of a pretty girl and I hate that. It ended up translating as a very powerful female statement of what it is to be a young woman. I was really proud of this project because Audrey is so good with her facial expression and presenting powerfully.
You mentioned how people often dismiss photos because of the type of subjects you portray, how do you think about using technique to get past or curb that?
To be honest, I don't always curb that, sometimes I play into it. I believe that it's great to make art for yourself, but also part of being an artist is understanding that the audience needs to receive your art in a certain way, so you have to put intention into how I want the audience to receive this. So I think it's not about going against these standards, it's more about playing into them and how can I expand upon them and make them multidimensional. So it's not just, again, a picture of a pretty girl, but it's more than that, It captures the attitude or atmosphere of the person.
What's your favorite album?
Okay, computer by Radiohead.
What about taking photos makes you happy?
The best joy of photography is capturing people in a way that they have never seen themselves. Especially when photographing teenage and early adult women who are struggling against confines and expectations. I've taken pictures of people and they've seen it and said they never thought they could look like that. I love taking photos and knowing there's a tangible thing that I made that I can be proud of. The storytelling through photography is just incredible, I feel like I am making history in the sense that I'm documenting it. Through finding photography and becoming a photographer, I feel like I'm part of the conversation with art.