Marlene Marino (Virginia, United States) studied art and philosophy in New York before launching her photographic practice in 1999. Upon graduation, her first exhibition was at American Fine Arts, NY – curated by Colin De Land. Marino recently published the project Cuba 2009, as a special edition for Purple Fashion Magazine #11, with whom she contributes regularly.
Photographs from Marino’s Cuba 2009 series chronicle five weeks in the summer of 2008 that the artist spent living in Havana. In capturing private moments and poetic scenes in her family’s homeland, the photographs offer a personal view of Cuba, which is the result of the artist’s need to connect to the country of her ancestry; and to reflect, as clearly as possible, what Cuba means to her, and what she is in Cuba.
“2008. I spent five weeks in Havana last summer. I wanted to preserve on film a sense of people’s lives in this historical period of transition. I wanted the images to serve as a time capsule for an unforeseen future. I wanted to photograph everything that struck me- women’s faces, couples kissing and making love, and people passionately discussing politics amongst collapsing Neoclassic architecture to the sound of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody. I wanted to retrace steps and make images that were musical and kinetic.”
Through photography Marino has developed an aesthetic, in which images are purposefully crafted to have a nostalgic and mysterious feel. Influenced by the films of the Nouvelle Vague, and avant-guard photo movement of 70’s Japan, Marino’s micro-narratives are a social and emotional form of photography that blurs the line between past and present. It’s a private photography. Her semi-autobiographical portraits attempt to retrace steps by recording the things that compel her. There’s an attitude of leisurely sensuality which prevails. It’s an intimacy casual enough to make you forget the lovely, self-possessed women as they meander through the frame.
Publications
“Cuba 2009” The Marlene Marino Purple book, A special edition for Purple Fashion Magazine, Issue #11, Spring Summer, 2009.
Commissioned Projects
Urban Outfitters Early Spring Catalog 2010
Bibliography & Features
L’ Official Homme, Paris. “We ♡ Marlene Marino” Issue #19, 2010. Text by Tim Verrecchia.
Black Square Magazine, Russia. “Cuba”, Issue #09, 2009.
Apartamento Magazine, Spain. “Post-Sex and Relaxation”, Issue #04, 2009.
Pig Magazine, Italy. “Sumi & Hana”, October, 2009.
Twin Magazine, England. Try A little Tenderness, November, 2009. Text by Kasia Bobula.
Japan Esquire, Forever Esquire, April 2009. Text by Mutsuko Ota.
Urban Outfitters, Before Night Falls, Winter 2008. Interview by Kate Williams.
Purple Fashion Magazine, Paris. “New York Nudes”, Issue #07, Summer, 2007.
Dune Magazine, “Sisters”, Issue # 33, Winter, 2007.
Japan Esquire, “Porsche 911 Targa 4S”, July 2007.
Commissions
Purple Fashion magazine
Apartamento magazine
Dune magazine
Self Service magazine
Urban Outfitters
Porsche
Japan Esquire magazine
Pig magazine
Boon magazine
Brutus magazine
Super Trash Festival
Cut magazine
Nylon magazine
Levis
Dazed & Confused magazine