Matea Leš shares details about her first photo book on the Adriatic coast with Vogue Adria

There are summers in real life, and there are summers in photographs, but even those captured summers can awaken a real feeling, as if you yourself were a living witness to the scene. That’s how I feel when I go through Matea Leš’s photos. A jump into the sea, floating on turquoise water, biting into a juicy nectarine, slow summer afternoons, or just everyday scenes and moments from ordinary people’s lives—they can all magnetically draw you into the visual world of this talented landscape architect and photographer. When we were preparing a feature for Vogue Living meant to capture the Dalmatian core in all its soft golden hues, Matea was our choice. The sunny magic of Hvar or the quiet charm of Vrnik are just parts of that island Mediterranean collection she explored for us.

And little did we know that we were making a fantastic introduction to her new project and first photography book, Adriatic: Snapshots of Belonging. “When I got your call, I couldn’t believe the timing! The book was already in production, and the Vogue Adria shoot actually felt like a quiet confirmation that I might be the right photographer for such a project. It’s not that I doubted myself, but it’s nice to get an extra confirmation from the universe just when you really need it,” she told me excitedly, announcing an exhibition and book launch scheduled for July 10th at BrigadaLab in Nova Ves (the exhibition will remain open until August 5th).

Alongside numerous travels around the world—too many to count on two hands—Matea has been intensively photographing the Adriatic coast for eight years. Her debut book covers all parts of Dalmatia and some areas of Istria. The text in the book is written by Ana Lozica, who says, “This is not a typical tourist photo book nor a documentary of the times; it is a visual essay about connection, nostalgia, and the quiet beauty of everyday life, told through carefully curated scenes and a sensitive photographic language.”

As a native of Zadar who “grew up by the sea and experienced some of the most wonderful moments of life there,” Matea tells me she never had any doubt about her main subject. “For many years, I have been documenting life on the Adriatic, drawing my greatest inspiration from what is familiar to me, from where I’m from. My first book is an ode to life by the sea and a love for what we all share, something intangible and indescribable, the feeling of belonging through small, well-known moments of living that only those who have visited and live on the Dalmatian coast truly understand.”

She admits that she used to take the sea for granted until she moved to Zagreb, where she now lives with her life and business partner, Ivan Leš. When I ask what she loves most about photographing our coast, she replies, “I love the general openness, our people don’t shy away from being photographed; some actually react quite sweetly, and even find it fun.” She points out how geographically varied our coast is, “There are so many coves, beaches, and undiscovered places that it keeps pushing me to explore again and again. When I photograph outside Croatia, I always know I’ve only scratched the surface in terms of culture, every place requires time to get to know, and I think traveling for a week, two, or three isn’t enough for that, unfortunately. I believe I can convey feelings much more genuinely on our coast than abroad.”

I immediately want to know which place on the coast inspires her the most, where she feels the most at ease. “The islands are where I feel the freest. For me, those are Silba, Vis, and Korčula/Vrnik.”

She admits that in recent years she has been thinking a lot about technology and how we experience photography today, compared to the time when she was growing up. “As a child, I used to look forward to our monthly family trips to the photo studio where we developed pictures. We would even open them on the way home and laugh in the car. On the other hand, I’m a bookworm, so this form of presenting my photos is a dream come true.” Since Matea isn’t very talkative, as she herself says, “I’m not good at telling stories with words; I actually get really boring when I talk about something. Photos say so much more and speak for me, and that truly makes me happy,” emphasizing that conveying emotion is her greatest motivation when photographing.

A great support in this project is her partner, who stands behind the camera when Matea is in the frame. Together, they run Tattoorroom in Zagreb, they work, travel, live, and love together, and when it comes to photography, they complement each other perfectly. “A few days ago, we were driving to the coast and realized in the car how boring life would be if we weren’t born as creative souls in this world. I think our relationship is based on being creative together, we constantly, every day, talk about possible ideas, both for work and outside of work. We understand each other completely, but we’re not both creative in the same way, which is great because we complement each other.”

After Zagreb, the book will be presented in Zadar, and in September it will travel to Split. These are wonderful reasons for more people to experience Matea’s summers on the Adriatic coast because “her photos are imbued with the textures of time, traces of people, and micro-stories that unfold quietly in the background of spectacular landscapes. Each of her photos is part of a larger whole, part of the feeling that makes up Matea’s life by the sea.