Interview with Hermione, alternative gothic model and writer, who talks about her photo shoots and novels.
Also modeling for Cofani Funebri for the 2009 and 2010 calendars, Ermione has been a guest on several TV programs. The wonderful model, also clarified why she was away from the sets for a certain period. We also refer to Ermione's DarkVeins profile and gallery.
L: Hi Hermione, give a brief introduction of yourself.
E: Hermione is my stage name, and I prefer you to think of me like this, forget Claudia, and imagine that I came to life among the verses of Gabriele D'Annunzio.
L: Hermione is your stage name. Can you tell us about this choice?
E: Hermione was not my choice; it is a name that was sewn on me without my knowledge. My first boyfriend chose it for me; knowing me, he immediately thought of the nymph described by D'Annunzio in "The Rain in the Pine Grove" and thus saved my number in his address book.
L: You are an alternative model. When did your career start?
E: I'm not saying this out of pride, but I started posing when in Italy the alternative models could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I chose to do it to indulge my penchant for the obscure and to be honest also in the knowledge that I did not have canons suitable for a fashion agency. For me, who weighed almost 100 kg until I was 16, it was a way of falling in love with my new body, which although skinny was never bony.
L: What do you love about this world and what are the negative aspects you have to deal with?
E: I was enthusiastic for years about the world of photography. Creating ad hoc sets and situations stimulated me ... slowly, however, I realized how distorted everything was; the female colleagues first and foremost. With some models I had made friendships that I considered deep, but which were such only on my part. For them I was just a mine of contacts, nothing more. I am not spoken of very highly ... and I don't expect anyone to change their register or opinion.
L: What are the most important photographic sets in your career? Which professionals have you collaborated with?
E: I have collaborated and posed for over 100 photographers (including professionals and amateur photographers). The best experiences I had were in Sweden, not at all matching the standards most prevalent in their country and giving me unimaginable fees in Italy. Everyone always played a lot with my supposed (or real?) resemblance to Amy Lee.
L: What horror and dark shoots have you done? Can you tell us about your collaboration with Funeral Bonnets?
E: Grisly sets often have a flaw; that which is most grotesque is visible in the final shot is frequently added or accentuated in post production.
I owe a great deal to Funeral Bonnets, even though we have not kept in touch. Again it will seem I am sinning in pride by claiming that I feel I am the official Model of Cofani Funebri. The calendar I posed for in 2009 (I also posed for them in 2010 flanked by model Rea Silvia and funeral singer-songwriter Mauro Petrarca) was not the first one the company had done. Definitely, however, the best successful one. I brought them my experience, my ideas forgetting the clumsy attempts they had made the previous years. I refined the look, the image, the out-fit. It was a great success.
L: What can you tell us about your experience on TV?
E: The TV experience came as a result of the 2009 calendar, the shots were broadcast by all the national news stations ... so they started inviting me to the most famous TV salons including to the Maurizio Costanzo Show. One myth I feel like dispelling is the idea that everything on TV is organized and maneuvered...it's not like that; after a brief interview with the writers they throw you on stage, into the lion's den. I've held up well.
L: Has your career always been at the top or have you experienced some dark moments?
E: My career was at the top in the years 2009-2010 and early 2011. Then I made a big slip around which a MORBIOUS curiosity was created and a myriad of nastiness was raised. Let's clear the air once and for all; yes I used cocaine. My use of it was small but constant. I have always been prone to depression and once I tried the substance it seemed (and I WAS WRONG) to be the best form of self-medication.
I felt active, euphoric, full of energy. I used to take it with me on photo shoots without making a secret of my vice. Word got around and the respectability of many prevented them from contacting me as a model.
Cocaine in the long run destroys; quantities have to be increased, and from being euphoric one goes to being aggressive. The day unfolds in waiting for the drug dealer. I thank my mom, a doctor who acted intelligently. She discovered the addiction and made me stop by scaling up the dose.
Coming out of addiction I still had to deal with several extra pounds. If cocaine increases your metabolism and has an anorectic effect, it is also true that once suspended you gain weight and with no small amount of interest. That's what "froze" my modeling career for a while.
L: You have been courageous in addressing this. We are pleased that what caused you pain is now part of the past. Let's continue with the questions. You are also a writer. Is Smother Me or Hold Me your first book? Can you tell us about it?
E: Talk about Smother me or embrace me requires me to remember, it was published in 2009 and had record sales (thanks to media resonance) for being produced by a medium-small publishing house. In any case, in Smother me or Embrace me, through the expedient "eros," such suffering themes as emotional dependence, low self-esteem and self-harm are probed. A tragic diary.
L: What can you tell us about your other literary works? Is there a horror or noir vein between your pages? To whom would you recommend reading your books?
E: I have a terrible flaw, I must confess, once I finish a piece of writing I almost forget it to leave room for other ideas. I published another paper book in 2011, Flies and Spiders - Stories of Obsession.. This is not an anthology as the title might suggest but a novel. After writing other erotic texts such as Inclination to indecency, Venial sins only, The corset, The festival of impure acts (some of them written four-handedly with other authors), I approached noir with Black loves in Palma de Mallorca and to the grotesque with hints of fetish with New meat. Numerous stories have been published in the newspaper Cronaca Vera.
I would recommend reading something of mine by those who are intrigued by the complexity of the human mind and its murky secrets.
L: Do you already have a new book in the works? What is it going to be about? What about photographic sets?
E: In November I will be in all bookstores for the first time (thus with wide distribution) albeit only with a short story contained in an anthology named A night in Milan.
As for photography, having freed myself from the extra kilos I have slowly resumed. I confess that the disappointments have been too many and I fear to collect more. After graduating with a degree in literature, I enrolled in physical therapy (I have already done the first year), so my time is less and less.
L: Are you more of a model or a writer?
E: I am definitely more of a writer. I've never stopped writing. Unfortunately, with the image you reach the audience sooner, the writing is more sophisticated.
L: Do you love horror cinema? What are your favorite genre films?
E: To be honest I prefer dramatic films... for horror I choose Argento's great classics.
L: What about literature? Which writers do you carry in your heart?
E: In my writing heart stands out, without a doubt, Goethe!
L: Leave a message for readers!
E: I thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my voice heard again. Certain that more enemies will read me than friends (I swear I have no persecutory mania), I hope they will feel sorry for me and my revenge!
L: Thank you for your helpfulness Hermione and good luck!
