jueves, diciembre 17, 2009

Interview with Cristina Riminucci

Photo by Manuel Bravi

It's a great pleasure to present this new interview. Cristina Riminucci is an Italian translator, model, photographer and fashion designer. You have seen some of her amazing pictures in the classic round of images and an excellent rendition of her done by the fabulous artist Pater. She is a polifacetic artist, a creative force, truly inspiring.

Your name is Cristina Riminucci but you are also known as Venom Gufina, what's the origin of that nickname?

Well, actually those are two separate nicknames: Venom the one I chose as a model. Since my "actual" job is translating comics, I wanted a superhero name: Venom is actually a super-villain, none less than Spiderman's archnemesis - so even better, isn't it? Gufina instead is my nickname since forever… I always call anyone "gufino", so that in the end I was the one who became "gufina". When I signed up on Suicidegirls, the nickname Venom was already taken so I went for my older one - which, by the way, means "little female owl" in Italian.

You are both a photographer and a model, what came first? Do you think there is a feedback between both activities as you get to be in both sides of the camera?

I started to work as a model over 2 years ago now. I always loved to model, but the more you do it the more you get curious about being on the other side of the lenses… and that surely helps my modeling work since I can then understand easily the skills of the photographer I'm working with every time. At the same time, I also learned a lot on lightning, lenses, and photographic techniques!!!

How do you feel about censorship? Do you think social nets are too prude? I ask this as some of your sets are "censored".

Myspace is surely the worst!!! I've been censored countless times over there. To be truly honest, I'm not a big fan of nude photography myself, I prefer much more when a photograph gives you rather sublet, sensual hints, but some websites go on and enforce censorship even against this kind of pictures. Facebook is just a bit better, but surely the best is Suicidegirls: you can basically post whatever you want over there! :)

Photo for Suicide Girls with Giulia Darkene.

As a model you work for Suicide Girls, how did you get in contact with them? How would you define SG to someone who knows nothing about them?

The Suicidegirls are tough girls, first and foremost: tattoed, pierced, with crazy colour hairs, they surely don't stand back for anyone and don't mind to show their bodies. No one forces you to shoot a Suicidegirls set in fact, it's you who go and look out for them and send your photos to the webstied. I started following them in 2006, and since the very first day I wanted to be one of them even if somehow I didn't see myself fitting for the role. You can imagine then my pleasant surprise when I got accepted as soon as my set debuted on their pages!

Tell us about your work with latex.

I just L-O-V-E latex… but the downside of this romance is that latex is a really costy passion, and more often than not I just couldn't justify the crazy prices latex dresses go for. So I decided to put my fashion stylist studies to a good use, and I invested a small sum into buy raw latex material: I started designing and producing simple but still fancy dresses, and started selling them at a very competitive price. The first ones actually went as gifts to my other model friends, but almost immediately everyone started asking for them and so the sales started to take off… and it's still going on strong! ^_^

Latex rules!

How do you approach your work as comic book translator? In Spain there have been some polemics with translations as names changed even in the same comic book or there were weird sentences. Is there a reference guide for names, places...?

Obvioustly it's the translator's job to take care of it, but fortunately over here we have several other people working especially to make sure there are no errors whatsoever. It's the editor who controls all the translation and then hands it over to the proof-reader who controls it a second time, looking for spelling errors and whatnot. I'll be honest, errors do happen from time to time, but we really do our best to avoid it happening. I really like this job, you can do it easily from home and still gives you lots of time to dedicate to the rest of your hobbies and passions!

Who are your favorite writers?

Warren Ellis, first and foremost: he's totally crazy! I know him personally and from time to time he even helped out with my job. Both lovable and grumpy, at the same time… definitely an amazing character!!!

As you design latex dresses and translate super hero comic books, have you ever done super hero outfits with latex?

Absolutely. Here's an exclusive preview: my next photo session for Suicidegirls will in fact see me as a super-heroin all dolled up in latex!

Now focusing in the subject of this merry blog, do you think there is alien life out there or even among us?

More than just thinking about it, I fervently hope that to be the case. I just refuse to believe there's no other life in the universe!

Have you ever had any experience out of the ordinary such as an UFO sighting?

Ok, you're gonna love this one… some years ago I was going back home with my family and looking out of the car, straight in the sky, both me and my sister saw some kind of shape in the sky which reflected the sun's light - it almost seemed metallic. Up to this day, I still have no clue what was it, but surely I'd like to find it out.

May the mighty and wise Isis be with us!

7 comentarios:

  1. Maneja usted un concepto de traducción que se me escapa. Menos que uno se maneja en inglés como si hubiera nacido en Stratford-upon-Avon... y que las fotos hablan un lenguaje bien comprensible!!!

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  2. Caballero, ya dije que este post sería en inglés. Habrá una traducción al bello idioma de Cervantes, que será un post diferente, como hice en la anterior entrevista.

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  3. Debo presentarle mis más hipócritas excusas.

    Le confieso que no suelo prestar atención a las declaraciones realizadas para un amplio auditorio; me encontrará mucho más receptivo si tiene a bien susurrarme al oído palabras encendidas.

    Y, en realidad, todo este asunto no ha sido más que un equívoco. Quien estaba errado era un servidor, que se empeñó en confundir dos conceptos bien distantes entre sí. Donde hablaba de traducción quería decir zumo de naranja.

    Aclarado lo primero, me gustaría que se posicionase respecto al tema fundamental de una vez por todas:
    ¿va a haber o no va a haber zumo de naranja?

    Y, en caso de que no le apetezca ponerse a exprimir, ¿cuenta usted con un Plan B? Porque las dos toneladas de fruta encargadas a Valencia llevan casi una semana almacenadas en la Sinagoga Reformada y no quisiera que mis fieles se diesen de napias con el verdadero olor de santidad.

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  4. Muy señor mío, le he concedido tiempo más que suficiente para solucionar el problema de los rabinos y las naranjas.

    Después de darle vueltas a la cabeza, he llegado a la conclusión de que tal dejación en sus responsabilidades sólo puede responder a un oscuro afán antisemita.

    Así las cosas, no me deja otra alternativa que denunciarlo al centro Simon Wiesenthal a fin de que abran un expediente contra su persona. Supongo que es usted consciente que la declaración de enemigo del pueblo judío lo inhabilita de manera vitalicia para realizar investigaciones en Tierra Santa.

    Luego no ande lloriqueando por las esquinas: ¡es que yo no sabía... buaaaa buaaaa.... a mí nadie me avisó... snif snif!

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  5. Esto es inaudito, me amenazan en mi propia bitácora con una denuncia por antisemitismo. Yo he luchado contra una plétora de nazis, humanos, robóticos, simios, ninjas, zombis...y combinaciones de lo anterior. He investigado y denunciado a sus sociedades secretas( Thule, Vril..) y llega un individuo, que por lo visto ha encargado una cantidad absurda de naranjas a Valencia con la todavía más ridícula intención de que haga zumo con ellas. Si usted desea compartir genuino zumo de naranja con los habitantes de Israel pues póngase usted a la tarea señor mío y no se lave las manos de una tarea que es cosa suya. Mi labor investigadora no me permite dedicar mi valioso tiempo a emplear una exprimidora.
    Para terminar le ruego que abandone esta digresión en esta entrada y en caso de desear continuarla lo haga en otra.
    ¡Que la poderosa y sabia Isis restablezca su capacidad lectora y auditiva!

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  6. Steiner, su tonillo de chulo barato le va a costar caro. Ya le bajarán los humos mis colegas del Irgun. A ver si con ellos se muestra tan irrespetuoso.

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  7. Pues envíeme a esos amigos suyos, y ya comprobaremos quién recibe una buena dosis de humildad. Me he curtido en peleas a vida o muerte con criaturas cuya existencia ignora, habitantes silenciosos de nuestras pesadillas más aterradoras. Yo, Patrick Von Steiner, he salido victorioso de cada uno de esos lances. ¡Por Isis!

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