‘Brought To Light’ – Mobile Photography / Art Interview with Ile Mont (Ileana Montano)

Describe a moment that changed your life.

Inevitably, by far, the moment that changed my life forever, as a human being and as a woman was when I became a mother. It was decisive. My whole vision of the world changed to a more responsible and sensitive view. Professionally, though, my life changed when I bought an oil painting and met the artist, a most talented and wonderful Mexican painter, Irma Grizá, who later became my painting teacher and friend. I learned a lot from her and discovered how happy and fulfilled I felt while painting and realised that painting and creating was what I wanted do more than anything.

Image ©Ile Mont

Describe a childhood photographic/art memory.

I was a kid and it was my 6^th birthday. My grandmother got me a beautiful paint by the numbers kit complete with easel, canvas, brushes and oil paints. The whole set. Everything was there. She told me she knew I was very creative and there was within me a great painter. I was so young and yet she had seen something already. Not that I consider myself a great painter, but I just can’t stop to be amazed at how perceptive she was not only to mine but to all her grandchildren’s capabilities. Some years later, when I was a young teen ager, my mother bought a 35mm Fujica AX1 camera, which she let me figure it all by myself and which turned out to be a great friend for years.

Describe your mobile studio.

My mobile studio starts with my iPhone. It is equipped with 138 photography related apps, which I had not counted until now! I do not use all of them all the time. I just go experimenting accordingly to what I need or want to achieve. I recently got the new iPad Pro as a gift and I am still deciding which apps to install. I used to have some lenses too, but since every time they upgrade the iPhone they become incompatible, I stopped buying them until they come along with a less ephemeral equipment.

What do you like to think about whilst creating images?

Mainly, while I am creating images I like to concentrate solely in what I am doing at the moment. In its colors and shapes and potential. I am rather more intuitive than rational while working. On the background, however, I am always thriving to be creative and original and looking for references in order to avoid repetition or making something I have already seen before. I always think I want to achieve something so inherently mine.

Image ©Ile Mont

Share one mobile photography/art tip.

The answer to this question would definitely be: Be ready. Do not put away your phone. There are incredible instants that will last only seconds, and if you have to search for your phone on your pocket or your purse and open the camera, the moments will be lost forever. You do not have to be rude to anybody, though. Just be ready.

Image ©Ile Mont

What or who ignited your passion for mobile photography/art?

What ignited my passion for mobile photography and art were several factors. In first place, the arrival of mobile phones with cameras that I could take wherever I went and could use at any given opportunity. I fondly remember my old Nokia N95 with a Carl Zeiss lens. In second place, the flourishing of places like Instagram, EyeEm or Flickr where I could upload and share my images for anyone to see, where I could receive feedback about what I was doing, and most of all, where I could see what others were doing. I’ve seen so many amazing, gorgeous, beautiful and inspiring things. In third place, all the people who has recognised, acknowledged my work so far, and in fourth place and more recently, what has increased that passion, has been you, Joanne, because of your commitment to gather so much talent and build a strong and respectable community of mobile photography and art, giving us all a sense of belonging and direction, which I will never cease to thank and admire.

Image ©Ile Mont

What is the most unusual subject you have photographed/painted?

I must say, surprisingly, that the must unusual subject I have photographed is myself. So much, that it took me a while to accept me as a subject with which I could work. At least for me, the “selfie” concept didn’t previously exist, and the self-awareness it came with it, neither. I used to feel like a stranger to myself and frequently was surprised by some of my gestures, poses, and photographs in general. It was like I learned to see myself in a completely new perspective.

Image ©Ile Mont

What are your favourite mobile photography accessories?

A very good, waterproof case with an excellent grip or strap. This is not a good place to share this, but while trying to shoot extreme pictures, I have dropped twice my iPhone in water. And I can’t begin to tell you what a sad and shameful situation that is.

Image ©Ile Mont

Who would play you in a film of your life?

Wow! I have two answers for this one. The first one: Someone who understood and liked what I do. The second one: If Liv Tyler is available, I think she could make this a very attractive and successful movie.

Do you have a favourite app?

Not really. But if I were forced to remain with just one app for the rest of my life, maybe I would choose iColorama because of its many powerful and diversified capabilities.

Image ©Ile Mont

Describe your dream mobile photography/art assignment.

I have been giving it a lot of thought to this question and it is not easy because I definitely have more than one dream assignment, but it would make me very happy if I were asked to build a complete series of mobile art and photography on the subject of the four seasons in Japan: its landscapes, cities and people.

Thank you very much for this wonderful interview and for all your caring support.

Image ©Ile Mont