It was an honour to select her for this feature and to delve deeper into her story.
Pia invites us into a realm where beauty and resilience entwine with raw vulnerability.
Pias honesty and authenticity shine as brightly as her imagery.
Pia Paulina Guilmoth
b.1993
(she/her)
AG.
“Flowers Drink the River” documents the first two years of your gender transition.
How has this personal journey influenced your artistic vision and the themes you explore in your work?
PPG: It has in every way imaginable.
Starting to medically transition saved my life in 2022 when I was at the lowest.
I just wouldnt be here today if it werent for it.
Looking for escape through others, drinking, working nonstop.
kinda just distracting myself from facing what would end up being a reality altering process.
A common misperception is that hormones just alter your appearance, which couldnt be further from real.
Hormones began to change the interior landscape and brain functioning before anything else.
Its a mind/body harmony that is in a constant state of growth and discovery.
I started working on Flowers Drink the River about a week before starting hormones.
I was also confronting the terrors of being a transsexual in a rural, mostly right-wing town.
Making art is one of the ways I can find some solace.
AG: What drew you to photography as your primary mode of artistic expression?
Were there specific moments or experiences that solidified your choice?
I wanted to be in chaotic situations and just like running around wild with a small point-and-shoot.
Things have changed a lot.
AG: Are there particular photographers, artists, or movements that have deeply influenced your approach?
How do these influences manifest in your work?
Its really beautiful work centered around lesbian community gatherings in the 70s and 80s.
Such a beautiful testament to queer joy and togetherness.
AG: Your creative process involves staging sculptures with natural materials and allowing environmental factors to interact with them.
Could you elaborate on how this collaborative approach with nature informs the narratives within your photography?
PPG: Theres a lot of chance involved in my work.
Theres a lot of waiting and observing and learning behaviors from animals, insects and plants.
AG: Living as a trans woman in a small right-wing town presents unique challenges.
But these things are where I’ve found peace with myself.
Im more afraid of the daylight than anything.
Obviously its never entirely safe to sneak into abandoned houses but thats taken some practice.
AG: Your photographs often feature nocturnal animals, ethereal landscapes, and ritualistic scenes.
PPG: I dont ever prescribe meanings to the symbols in my work.
And I think that the symbols emerge accidentally most often.
Its my way of showing my respect, and fascination with something.
Which i think is the goal for most rituals whether they are spiritual or religious or transcendent.
AG: Working with large format film cameras can be demanding.
PPG: I have always embraced, or sought out slowness in my life.
Its a state of hyperfixation when I’m shooting, and it actually puts me at ease.
The waiting, the searching, observing small details in my surroundings is also peaceful for me.
It is always a challenge when I’m photographing living animals and insects though.
But that challenge is fun for me.
AG: Your process often involves intricate preparation, like building trust with animals or setting up delicate sculptures.
How do these acts of patience shape your relationship with photography and the stories you tell?
PPG: It allows for a deeper connection with my surroundings.
AG: Large format photography is celebrated for its precision but can be daunting to master.
PPG: Honestly just many years of working with the same camera.
I think if you were to talk to a master they would probably think I was a total fool.
Can you discuss how aesthetic choices in your photography serve as acts of defiance or empowerment?
Its the foremost goal before anything.
but you cant take away my joy and the ability to find beauty in my life.
Trans people, amongst other marginalized communities, have so many threats to our merely existing in this world.
PPG: Queer people are often few and far between out here in rural areas.
When I started to transition, I didnt have many people in my life that I could relate to.
In some cases this fear overshadowed the reality.
AG: Your work attempts to show an alternative to the masculine and extractive history of the medium.
In what ways do you seek to redefine or challenge traditional narratives within photography?
PPG: I find that a lot of documentary photography is made by someone from outside looking in.
But I never expect nor want to leave my class bracket.
Luckily my rent is extremely cheap where I am, which allows me to do what I do.
Ive left because I am trans and cant ever safely, or comfortably come out to my grandparents.
But Ive always shared the same sort of desire to be in a place and never leave.
I wanted to be somewhere that reminded me of home, and have just the bare minimum.
The internet has made it possible for me to continue making art, really.
PPG: I have a hard time not getting super distracted by screens, and my phone and computer.
I appreciate a lot of digital processes as well, and rely on scanning for book projects and prints.
Are there any techniques or practices youve discovered that have surprised you?
So the evolution of my work is the evolution of me in a way.
But I’ve always photographed my immediate surroundings, my friends, and my family.
Finally I was taking care of myself and actually celebrating the things in my life.
Whereas in the past I was always looking to escape, even if subconsciously or something.
Its a tricky process that takes a lot of attempts, as the webs often break.
I have a setup in my car that I can hang the webs from after I collect them.
I then coated it in Mica dust that I collected from a nearby mine.
PPG: I want to photograph more of my friends this year.
I am working on a series of expired polaroid 4x5s that uses bioluminescent powder.
I have been making a lot of photographs of the moon and stars using homemade lens filters.
