She stands there, calmly, with a look of alacrity before the white paper roll-up screen. All of a sudden, she bursts into deep, expansive laughter. She is fully there, present, as though placed there rather than actually taking up any space herself. During the shoot, we casually chat, our sentences exploring a depth that sets in immediately in Lorna’s presence. Whether she’s standing in front of the camera, jumping, pacing about or thinking as she turns, her movements are just as much of an answer as her responses below. Can you define truth? “I wonder if there even is such a thing as the truth. The truth is just one perspective on multiple truths. I think really hard about what I consider to be true, because in my experience, those things can become my reality.”
Photography by Iga Drobisz
SLEEK: Where do you find truth?
Lorna Ishema: My last production was about an event that affected the lives of various characters. Depending on their perspective, the truth each character sees is slightly different every time. All they can do is play with it and use it flexibly for their own benefit. I think it’s the same with truth. Unlike facts, truth isn’t static. It can change with perspective and time.
Photography by Iga Drobisz
Truth = Lorna the woman …
is happy in her own company.
Truth = Lorna the actor …
desperately wants her characters to be seen.
Photography by Iga Drobisz
How true can we even be?
I don’t think it helps me much to tell you everything I know, but speaking the truth can be liberating.
Photography by Iga Drobisz
Is it true that you see yourself in the stories of others?
It is true that I can understand my characters better if I can see aspects of myself in them – it’s like a ticket to fantasy. But how a character ultimately turns out doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with me. I don’t find it easy to open up to my characters. I started out by acting in the theatre, and at first not even the people in the front row could hear me. I didn’t enjoy taking up so much space with my voice and being exposed like that on stage. But I learned a lot from my time in the theatre, which I can now use in front of the camera. My goal is to ‘become’ my character completely when I’m in front of the camera. It’s a question of a feeling that has nothing to do with right or wrong.
Photography by Iga Drobisz
Full interview available in SLEEK #70 – Wahrheit