{"id":692575,"date":"2025-11-14T14:33:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T11:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=692575"},"modified":"2025-11-14T14:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T11:33:03","slug":"stephanie-lacava-and-michella-bredahl-on-art-and-messy-womanhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=692575","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie LaCava and Michella Bredahl on art and \u2018messy\u2019 womanhood"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/art-photography\/article\/69078\/1\/stephanie-lacava-michella-bredahl-nymph-rooms-we-made-safe-portraits-paris\" data-article-id=\"69078\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.75\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430692-1.jpeg\" width=\"2250\" title=\"1430692-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Michella Bredahl<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><span class=\"month\">November<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"14\">14,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/longread\">Longread<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Stephanie LaCava and Michella Bredahl on art and <span class=\"nowrap\">\u2018messy\u2019 womanhood<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>As LaCava\u2019s new novel Nymph hits the shelves and Bredahl\u2019s new photo book Rooms We Made Safe launches in Paris, the two friends sit down to discuss making art and their <span class=\"nowrap\">\u2018universe-enlarging\u2019 friendship<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"month\">November<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"14\">14,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/longread\">Longread<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/EmilyDinsdale\">Emily Dinsdale<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<aside class=\"primary\">\n<div class=\"sticky bottom\">\n<div class=\"read-more\"><span class=\"read-more-header\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-items\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-life-culture\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69071\/1\/1-in-4-men-believe-no-one-will-ever-fall-in-love-with-them-state-of-uk-men-study\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"her\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430624.jpg\" title=\"1430624\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69071\/1\/1-in-4-men-believe-no-one-will-ever-fall-in-love-with-them-state-of-uk-men-study\"><span class=\"title\">1 in 4 men believe no one will ever fall in love with them<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-fashion\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/26527\/1\/inside-louis-vuitton-s-new-london-exhibition\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Louis Vuitton Series 3 exhibition, Dazed Digital\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1140302.jpg\" title=\"1140302\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/26527\/1\/inside-louis-vuitton-s-new-london-exhibition\"><span class=\"title\">Inside Louis Vuitton\u2019s new London exhibition<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-life-culture\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69035\/1\/they-said-it-was-more-cost-effective-meet-the-workers-replaced-by-ai\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"0*fkFEd4EeGGlNhutJ\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430312-17.jpg\" title=\"1430312-17\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69035\/1\/they-said-it-was-more-cost-effective-meet-the-workers-replaced-by-ai\"><span class=\"title\">\u2018They said it was more cost effective\u2019: The young workers replaced by AI<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-7-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Michella Bredahl and <span class=\"nowrap\">Stephanie LaCava<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/0\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430685.jpeg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430685\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/1\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430688.jpeg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430688\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/2\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430687.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430687\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/3\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430689.jpeg\" width=\"564\" title=\"1430689\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/4\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430692-2.jpeg\" width=\"2250\" title=\"1430692-2\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36313\/5\/michella-bredahl-and-stephanie-lacava\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430693.jpg\" width=\"1320\" title=\"1430693\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 7 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Friendships can feel as intoxicating as romances. The heady, exhilarating sensation of meeting someone new with whom you feel an affinity, the recognition and intimacy of those early exchanges and meetings. The sense of being drawn into another person\u2019s secret life and revealing your own secrets to them in turn is my favourite way to feel. I\u2019d almost take it over a love affair. As Eve Babitz once wrote <\/span><span>in <\/span><em><span>Slow Days, Fast Company,<\/span><\/em><span>\u201cI had a collection of lovers to keep me warm and my friendships with women, who always fascinated me by their wit, bravery, and resourcefulness, and who never told you the same story twice.\u201d<\/span><span> And when this experience is amplified by a reciprocal creative exchange of any kind, it can be even more energising.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Two such friends are photographer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/michella-bredahl\">Michella Bredahl<\/a> and the writer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stephanielacava\/?hl=en\">Stephanie LaCava<\/a>, who, despite living in different continents \u2013 Bredahl is based in Paris and LaCava lives in New York \u2013 struck up what has evolved into an enriching friendship after the photographer saw an arresting picture of LaCava in latex stockings and jean shorts and thought, <\/span><span>\u2018Who is this person? I want to know her.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>LaCava\u2019s latest novel, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.versobooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/3384-nymph?srsltid=AfmBOoolbYeKVDbsfyrLWpIuubSd8UTm6OGds7LiysM2povgZPAJ4u7I\"><em><span>Nymph<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, presents a portrait of <\/span><span>Bathory, a young woman <\/span><span>trying to understand herself in real time while navigating an unconventional career path as a <\/span><span>model, sex worker, linguist, Latin scholar, and assassin. The New York-based writer seems compelled by women\u2019s interior lives; her stories plumb the fathomless psychosexual depths of her fascinating heroines. <\/span><span>Like her previous much-loved book, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/56797\/1\/stephanie-lacava-author-interview-i-fear-my-pain-book-review\"><em><span>I Feel My Pain Interests You<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, her new work is a close, cool look at the moments that define us \u2013 often fleeting, often uncomfortable \u2013 and the ways we learn to inhabit our own bodies and histories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bredahl is similarly drawn to the lives and experiences of women, portraying <\/span><span>close friends, dancers and family in private, interior spaces. In her current exhibition, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/huismarseille.nl\/en\/exhibitions\/michella-bredahl\/\"><em><span>Rooms We Made Safe<\/span><\/em><\/a><span> (Huis Marseille, Amsterdam) \u2013 her first museum exhibition \u2013 she shares the walls with her mother, displaying photographs from their family archive that initiate a complex and courageous conversation about her mother\u2019s struggles with addiction and the messier parts of family life, all interwoven with moments of love, colour, and tenderness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the wake of the launch of LaCava\u2019s <em>Nymph<\/em> and Bredahl\u2019s photo book <em>Rooms We Made Safe<\/em> (in which LaCava contributes the text, <em>Fixed Image<\/em>), the friends sat down to chat and contemplate their relationship, their individual creative practices, and collaboration.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"b4645177-c044-4eca-98ca-b394011a7da5\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430687.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.3\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"2299\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430687-1.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430687-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Michella Bredahl, Stephanie in a Hotel in <span class=\"nowrap\">Paris (2022)<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Michella Bredahl<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>I remember seeing this image of you wearing leather stockings and jean shorts. It led me first to seeing your book, <\/span><em><span>I Feel My Pain Interests You<\/span><\/em><span>. That was back in January 2022. From there, I reached out to you and we started having a conversation, texting. We started talking about me taking your portrait when you came to Paris. So, we met through images and writing before we actually met in person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava: <\/strong><span>I remember telling you, \u2018I love your work, as well,\u2019 which led to our early collaboration. It\u2019s been an amazing friendship that\u2019s enlarged both our universes. I love that we originally connected through an online image, which allowed us to start making stuff together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>That\u2019s what&#8217;s so interesting about being someone who creates things. What you\u2019re actually doing is creating a language or feeling of belonging; you\u2019re attracting, putting something out there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span> Or maybe repelling. But that\u2019s helpful in its own way, right?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl:<\/strong><span> When I was in film school, we were taught to only make films with the people you want to dance with. It\u2019s something that always stayed with me. I think there\u2019s some proof in that; it\u2019s why we\u2019re here now. And I\u2019m curious, because I\u2019ve been experimenting with writing as well, how does writing a book start for you? Is it a sentence? An image? Do you collect things in a folder? Were you already writing <\/span><em><span>Nymph <\/span><\/em><span>when we met two and a half years ago?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span> I think so, but it wasn\u2019t always called <\/span><em><span>Nymph<\/span><\/em><span>. For me, it\u2019s about collecting, not literally, but more in spirit. I\u2019m coming up with what the thing is going to be over a few years, and then the story is quickly put down. There\u2019s not one open document or a chart on the wall. It\u2019s what disappears too. Photography is also about absence, right? When you make an image, it\u2019s not just what you see, it\u2018s what&#8217;s left out, as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>Both of us make work about people who feel unsafe a lot of the time. I love that we can create work together&#8230; because we feel safe with each other \u2013 Stephanie LaCava<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl:<\/strong><span> I actually thought of something when you said the word \u2018absence\u2019. I read a piece recently, which discussed absence linked to trauma \u2013 that it\u2019s often the hand that wasn\u2019t there, or the love that wasn\u2019t there, that takes up a lot of space. In image-making, how do you talk about these things? How do you capture the things that are hard to talk about?\u00a0 <\/span><span>When I took that original photograph of you, I think it captured a difficult duality. This push and pull between a desire for intimacy and detachment is also in your writing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span> That\u2019s so true. When you photograph me, I feel at ease with you. That\u2019s a credit to you and our connection. Both of us make work about people who feel unsafe a lot of the time. I love that we can create work together, sometimes even about each other\u2019s work, because we feel safe with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl:<\/strong><span> That\u2019s beautiful, yes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span>\u00a0 So much of our respective work is about lack of trust and betrayal, and then somehow we come together and make these things as a function of trust.\u00a0 By the way, I love the essay you wrote for your own book that just came out! You could have easily been a writer. What drew you to photography as your primary medium?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>That was because my mum gave me a camera when I was seven. My mum loved photography. When I look at our family album, there is a moment when it changes\u00a0from me being in front of the camera to me taking images of my mum and my sister. Since then, I\u2019ve never let go of the camera. Then I was introduced to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/diane-arbus\">Diane Arbus<\/a>. I saw her work, and that was one of the first times I remember a feeling of \u2018what is this?\u2019 That led me to take a photography course, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"61adb8d4-35e1-46c6-b543-b394011a724e\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430685.jpeg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.25\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michella Bredahl and Stephanie LaCava\" class=\"img\" height=\"2400\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430685-1.jpeg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430685-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Michella Bredahl, Stephanie on a Street in <span class=\"nowrap\">Paris (2025)<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Michella Bredahl<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span> We both got pushed to what was available to us as solace when we were young. I read everything. I didn\u2019t have a camera or someone pushing me in that direction. We use the tools we have. I read a lot of books, and first started writing poetry. So much of my work is about invisibility and absence, but also the desire for visibility <\/span><em><span>alongside<\/span><\/em><span> the wish to disappear. These duelling things kind of brought us together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>When I was younger, people expected me to be a model. But really, I wanted to be behind the camera, not in front. I felt like the inner and outer parts of me got further and further apart, until I discovered Diane\u2019s book. Growing up without artists in my life, I found inspiration in their books. With you, there\u2019s this mirror between us, a way of speaking the same language, even when our actual languages differ.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><em><span>Nymph<\/span><\/em><span> is all about linguistics and codes \u2013 how messages are sent and received, or missed entirely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>Some people are so complex, contradictory, full of secrets and contradictions, impossible to put in a box. I see that in your writing, and it\u2019s in that first portrait I took of you: fragility, sensuality, but also strength.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava: <\/strong><span>It\u2019s a difficult line to walk. Part of the magic in our friendship is being able to hold and play with all these contrasts, and not have to choose between them.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>Whether photos or books, it\u2019s about storytelling, showing the real stories of women and not shying away from the messy, layered truth \u2013 Michella Bredahl<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong>Yes, and you actually advocate for embracing those contradictions \u2013 fragility and sensuality as powers rather than weaknesses. Whether photos or books, it\u2019s about storytelling, showing the real stories of women and not shying away from the messy, layered truth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava: <\/strong><span>You\u2019re good with allowing people to show themselves without judgment \u2013 through space and colour, as well. Your photography often captures this intimacy in domestic spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl:<\/strong><span> Growing up, my mother painted each room a different colour, so colour and intimacy became central to how I photograph. It\u2019s not about sterile studios, but about entering someone\u2019s room, their life. That\u2019s where the real story is. I\u2019ve been meaning to ask you: When do you know something you\u2019re writing is finished?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava: <\/strong><span>For me, it\u2019s intuition. I just know. If I ever deliver something before it feels right, I regret it. Is it the same for you with images?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Michella Bredahl: <\/strong><span>Sort of. With photographs, there\u2019s always the sense you could keep changing things. A book feels more final?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stephanie LaCava:<\/strong><span> That\u2019s funny. I didn\u2019t think of this before, but the last scene of <em>Nymph<\/em> is its own kind of never-ending story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<div><em>Michella Bredahl\u2019s<\/em> Rooms We Made Safe<em> is published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz K\u00f6nig and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/webshop.huismarseille.nl\/en\/product\/michella-bredahl-rooms-we-made-safe\/\">here<\/a> now. The book launches on Saturday 15 November from 6-8pm at Palais de Tokyo.<\/em><\/div>\n<div><em>Stephanie LaCava\u2019s <\/em>Nymph<em> is published by Verso and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.versobooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/3384-nymph?srsltid=AfmBOoolbYeKVDbsfyrLWpIuubSd8UTm6OGds7LiysM2povgZPAJ4u7I\">here<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"aeee4f19-cd93-4fdf-ab98-b395009f26a3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430754.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.8\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"unnamed-2\" class=\"img\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430754.jpg\" width=\"960\" title=\"1430754\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption 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2025<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69078\/1\/stephanie-lacava-michella-bredahl-nymph-rooms-we-made-safe-portraits-paris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a9 Michella Bredahl November\u00a0 14,\u00a0 2025 Art &amp; PhotographyLongread Stephanie LaCava and Michella Bredahl on art and \u2018messy\u2019 womanhood As LaCava\u2019s new novel Nymph hits the shelves and Bredahl\u2019s new photo book Rooms We Made Safe launches in Paris, the two friends sit down to discuss making art and their \u2018universe-enlarging\u2019 friendship November\u00a0 14,\u00a0 2025 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":692576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-692575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=692575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/692576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=692575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=692575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=692575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}