“There are always boundaries to break.”

When was the last time a photo fascinated you?

The last time it was a photo of a little girl looking very seriously into the camera. It reminded me how important it is to depict a person, a personality.

You set off for Paris at a young age. Where should a young fashion talent go today?

Today, the whole world is connected. You don’t have to go anywhere! There are some examples of people who become great role models in rural seclusion. Still, I would recommend the big cities, that’s where you learn the fastest. For me, it was New York, where I learned a lot very quickly. That wouldn’t have been possible in any other city at the time.

Photography has changed drastically in recent years. However, what in your opinion, never changes?

The confrontation with people, a reality to which you have to react.

What boundaries still need to be broken in fashion photography?

There are always boundaries to break in the sense that it is necessary to evolve, not to be satisfied with the status quo. Beauty has always been a goal worth striving for. I don’t know how far we succeed in presenting and understanding everyday beauty as what truly makes us happy.

You are close friends with Helmut Lang, you were his photographer and model. What was revolutionary for you concerning his fashion?

He was unwavering in his idea of fashion and aesthetics. What also impressed me very much was his sense of continuity in fashion, magnificently punctuated by very idiosyncratic ideas, for example, long trains on short silk or plastic skirts.

A photograph by Elfie Semotan unfolds for the viewer. It is the irritation that turns the perfect into the imperfect and - as Semotan emphasises - does not dwell on superficialities. The doyenne of Austrian fashion and advertising photography recently celebrated her 80th birthday, which “Kunst Haus Wien” marked with a retrospective.

The question is perhaps overused, but we would like to ask it anyway: What would you like to say to your younger self?

Try to find out what you can do and what you want. Stay true to yourself, it’s worth it!

When Elfie Semotan turned her back on the fashion-driven Vienna of the 1970s and went to Paris to work as a model, she discovered the camera for herself. The decision to become a photographer was a “process that triggered some self-reflection”, paving the way for legendary advertising campaigns and intimate portraits of Hollywood celebrities.