On her 80th birthday, Elfie Semotan looks back on a lifetime of art and creative work. Her photographic work redefined fashion photography, shaping the evolution of it. L'Officiel Austria spoke with Semotan about serious-looking girls, fashion talents of tomorrow, and the mission of photography.

Elfie Semotan celebrates her 80th birthday on the 25th of July. With her work, she has shaped the international and national fashion scene in recent decades like no one before her. As a photographer who created her own space, working against the tide and uncompromisingly defined <a href="https://www.lofficiel.at/en/categories/fashion">fashion</a> <a href="https://www.lofficiel.at/en/tags/photography">photography</a> for herself, Semotan is a link between worlds.

When she went to Paris at the age of 20 after attending the Hetzendorf fashion school, she first worked as a <a href="https://www.lofficiel.at/en/tags/model">model</a> and only later discovered photography.&nbsp;For Helmut Lang behind the camera and even on the catwalk, she is closely linked to the history of his fashion house. She spent half of her life in New York and&nbsp;finally gave up the city that never sleeps and returned to <a href="https://lofficiel.at/en/tags/vienna">Vienna</a>.

&quot;I am very grateful for all the things I was able to learn in New York,&quot; she told Liane Seitz&#39;s podcast (&quot;Champagne or Water&quot;) on the occasion of her exhibition at Kunst Haus Wien, which is now dedicating a retrospective exhibition (&quot;Elfie Semotan Posture and Pose&quot;) to Elfie Semotan. Here, the arch between portrait works as well as fashion and advertising photographs and insight into a unique, cosmopolitan life is given.&nbsp;Especially Semotan&#39;s still lifes and landscapes will be a new discovery for many.

Photos by Elfie Semotan often play with a pinch of irritation. If, as she emphasizes,&nbsp;does not dwell on superficialities, she tells multifaceted stories in her work.

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Can you still remember the moment when you decided to become a photographer?&nbsp;

Elfie Semotan: &quot;It wasn&#39;t a moment, it was a process that triggered some self-reflection.&quot;

What shoots have had the most impact on your photographic journey?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;Portraiture was always the most intense and very dependent on the connection I was able to make with the person being photographed.&quot;

When was the last time a photograph fascinated you - and why?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;The last time it was a photo of a little girl looking into the camera all serious and collected. It reminded me how important it is to depict a person, a personality.&quot;

You&#39;ve always said you suffer from being in front of the camera. What was it like when J&ouml;rg Burger shot a documentary about you?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;I got to know J&ouml;rg Burger before the shoot, I saw some of his films and talked to him. I was sure I knew him well enough, he wouldn&#39;t shoot anything I didn&#39;t approve of. We are similar on some levels: he doesn&#39;t do short scenes and quick cuts, also something we have in common. Also, in a film, you have the opportunity to draw a portrait slowly. Photos have to or should show everything in one moment - in the best case.&nbsp;As we know, that often goes wrong.&quot;

Elfie Semotan Documentary

© Christoph Liebentritt für Collectors Agenda

"There are always boundaries to break in the sense that it's necessary to move forward, not being satisfied with the status quo."

In the Western media world, which increasingly wants to adorn itself with the attribute &quot;diverse&quot; and &quot;inclusive,&quot; there is paradoxically more than ever physical perfection. How do you see this trend?&nbsp;

Elfie Semotan: &quot;With greater options come greater demands. We have more choices of dresses, so we also have disguises, cover-ups, and we can retouch ourselves at the touch of a button, look like our idols. I&#39;m not interested in that. It&#39;s more important to understand who you are, what opportunities and gifts you have, and how to live with that.&quot;

Has the fashion world become more feminist in recent years as a result?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;That&#39;s a funny question, whether it&#39;s feminist, I can&#39;t answer that easily now. Fashion is supposed to make women more beautiful, to present them in a more advantageous way, maybe to sell them better ... That doesn&#39;t seem very feminist to me now. Feminist is something that gives women awareness, helps them to recognize their situation and their value as an equal part of society. Fashion does that, too, and to that extent, it can be seen as feminist.&quot;

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What boundaries still need to be broken in fashion photography?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;There are always boundaries to break in the sense that it is necessary to evolve, not to be satisfied with the status quo. Beauty has always been and continues to be a desirable goal, how far we succeed in presenting and understanding everyday beauty as what truly makes us happy I don&#39;t know.&quot;&nbsp;

You left for <a href="http://lofficiel.at/en/tags/paris">Paris</a> at a young age because Vienna didn&#39;t allow progressive fashion. Where should a young fashion talent go today?&nbsp;

Elfie Semotan: &quot;Today you are connected to the whole world, you find out everything you want to know. You don&#39;t have to go anywhere, there are some examples of people who become great role models in rural seclusion. Still, I would recommend the big cities, that&#39;s where you learn the fastest, that&#39;s where you see the most, with all the difficulties that come with it. For me, it was New York. I learned a lot there very quickly, that wouldn&#39;t have been possible in any other city at the time.&quot;

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You are close friends with Helmut Lang, were his photographer and model. What do you think was the most revolutionary thing he ever did?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;He was unwavering in his vision of fashion and in his aesthetic. What also impressed me a lot was his sense of continuity, of an almost logical progression of fashion that was great from very idiosyncratic ideas. For example, long trains on short silk or plastic skirts.&quot;

The technical requirements for photography have changed drastically in recent years. There are now even &quot;Times&quot; covers produced with iPhones. However, what do you think never changes in photography?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;The confrontation with people. A reality to which one must respond.&quot;

The question may be overused, but we&#39;d like to ask it anyway: What would you like to say to your younger self?

Elfie Semotan: &quot;Try to find out what you can do and what you want, stay true to yourself - it&#39;s worth it.&quot;

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The exhibition &quot;Elfie Semotan: Posture and Pose&quot; is on view at <a href="https://www.kunsthauswien.com/en/">Kunst Haus Wien</a> until Aug. 30, 2021.

Happy Birthday, Elfie Semotan! Interview with Austria's photography icon

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