Alana Celii is a photo editor and photographer based in New York. She graduated with her BFA in photography from Parsons the New School for Design. Currently, she is a photo editor at The New York Times. Her personal work has been exhibited in the US, and abroad. Most recently, she completed a residency at Vermont Studio Center, and NES in Iceland.
Her first monograph, Paradise Falling, was published in the Spring of 2020. Her photographic language is precise and smooth at the same time.
About ‘Odd Sympathy’ – words by Alana Celii:
The notion of home exists within the realm of comfortable and familiar. It is often relating to feelings of domesticity and cannot only represent a physical space but also time. The homely describes the sensation of when one feels at home but also can be defined as ugliness. Often, the true home is repressed and hidden through the guise of comfort or idealized perfection. However, when hidden details about the home are revealed, one experiences a sense of the uncanny. As a consequence of photographing, which was to remain secret about this environment has now been unearthed. Through the exploration of my own personal moments, details that usually go unnoticed are uncovered. This minutia conveys the beauty in the forgotten and the ignored. It is the instance where everything feels foreign and familiar at the same time; thus resulting in the sensation of the uncomfortably strange. The eeriness and naiveté in the hope of the home is the underlying narrative within the imagery.
