Uniqueness is one’s favourite novel... Even if twenty people were asked to choose their favourite novel and they all came up with the same text, each of their readings would be unrepeatable. Indeed each reader has their own set of images, impressions and emotions that stem from a particular text and from their own experience of the world - and that combination is unique. Leonora asked her subjects to select their favourite novel. She then created a mise-en-scene evoking the atmosphere of their chosen book, and took their portrait. By acting out a role they have chosen themselves, for themselves, Leonora attempted to reveal how the viewer perceived them and how they wished to be perceived by the viewer. She was interested in trying to visually channel what a novel leaves behind for the reader into a single, unique image. Inspired by the old masters in painting, she used the descriptive quality of a large-format camera and the richness of colour film to allow for the interplay between different perceptions of reality and fiction.
