Photographer Marie Tomanova Thrives in Minimalism

New York’s downtown youth has been a muse to artists for decades, but if the current generation had an official documentarian, it would be photographer Marie Tomanova. Born in and raised in the Czech Republic, she moved to the US in her twenties, eventually landing in New York, where Ryan McGinley himself convinced her to publish her first book of images, Young American (2019). Since then, Tomanova has released two more books—New York New York (2021) and It Was Once My Universe (2022), a stunning, vulnerable photographic meditation on her return to her hometown after eight years away—and has been featured in several exhibitions around the world. Her sensitively rendered portraits explore themes of belonging, community, new love, immigration, and home, and have captured the attention of director Marie Dvořáková, who will be releasing an HBO documentary on Tomanova later this year. 

Here, Tomanova shares a few wardrobe essentials, where to find her favorite donut, and two career-defining images that hold a special place in her creative journey. — Maraya

LATELY ON COVETEUR

5 X 5

5 Things Marie Tomanova Is Currently Into Based on the 5 Senses

👁️ Sight 👀

Murder, She Wrote: Murder She Wrote is what I watch on repeat while I do things in the house; it's my comfort show. The Rothko exhibition at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris was great. But maybe the most inspiring was to see Sophie Calle's exhibition at Musée Picasso in Paris. She took over the whole museum, altering the space and works of Picasso, bending the meaning of a male icon-artist such as Picasso and finding a whole new depth in the process. She is really brilliant.

🎧 Sound 👂

The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack: Period. :)

👅 Taste 😋

Cheeseburger at Odeon: Forever and Always. And the creme brûlée donut at Doughnut Plant.

👃 Smell 😶‍🌫️

Santa Maria Novella L’Iris

🤌 Feel 🤏 

Vintage Levi’s: Last time I was in Tokyo I bought 5 pairs of vintage Levi's jeans and cords. Basically, these have become all I wear and reach for all the time.

MARIE’S WARDROBE ESSENTIALS

I love style and clothes and used to thrift shop a lot, but it was really a hobby and a way of filling time. I don't really have that sort of time anymore, and I also realized I am not much of a shopper, and so I end up with things I love and wear all of the time. Every time I see a photo of myself, it seems I am wearing this old Thrasher T-shirt my friend Kiernen (@anything) gave me that was his son's, and black or blue Levis (black found on the street in NYC, blue from Tokyo—a place called  Berberjin). The only shoes I ever want to wear are those gold Gucci Gazelles. I found them in Paris last year and fell in love. I had just landed a huge job and these shoes felt like gold medals. I was never really a sunglasses person but these Prada's were a gift and now I can't live without them. Same with the Glam Slam—I had a nylon one forever but needed something a little more polished feeling. I got a new puppy—Boogie—a sweet little Brussels Griffon. I travel a lot, and so the Goyard bag is a fantastic thing and she loves it and is comfortable in it. 

Shop the Essentials: Goyard Chien Gris Bag, Prada Symbole Sunglasses, Maison Margiela Glam Slam Hobo Small, Thrasher T-Shirt, Adidas x Gucci Gold Gazelle

VANITY

Marie Tomanova’s Beauty Go-To’s

I am really a total minimalist and so I really don't have a strong routine, but really just sort of use [products] loosely and even irregularly. The Clarins Double Serum I do use daily as well as their day and night cream. This is probably the foundation of what I do, along with my Marvis toothpaste. These are the things I take when I travel, as well as the Nivea (which I first got from my mom) and the Weleda lip balm. The Illa has been a more recent addition on the recommendation from a friend, and I like the SPF 40 and how it can even things out if needed. The Santa Maria Novella L’Iris I discovered in Florence last year when it came out, and I am obsessed with the smells of Florence—I walk into the hills at night and smell the jasmine and flowers. I love spending time in Italy—I am transfixed.

Luxury/Splurge: L'iris by Santa Maria Novella 

Drugstore Discovery: Nivea Soft

Cult Classic: Weleda Everon Lip Balm

Indie Option: Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40

All-Time Ole Reliable: Clarins Double Serum Anti-Aging + Anti-Wrinkle Serum

THE SNAPSHOT

In celebration of Marie Tomanova’s photography practice, we’ve asked her to share two images: one she took early in her career as a photographer that has special significance and one recent shot that encapsulates where she is now in her creative journey. 

“This photograph of Kate and Odie will forever hold a special place in my heart. We shot it in early 2017, the very first time we met and it was a transcendent experience for me–two strangers to me, freshly in love, so honest and vulnerable–and we connected on such a level that it changed my approach to photography. I felt their presence so clearly and I also felt that they saw me. There was such an energy going back and forth, trust, and a new bond that sparked through the creative process. I originally came to see them to take a photograph of their hairless kitten Cashew but ended up with Kate and Odie nude in a tub. It was magic. We shot just one roll of film but there are so many precious images, this one being forever immortalized on the cover of my first book Young American (Paradigm Publishing, Foreword by Ryan McGibnley, 2019).”

“I was honored to photograph myself for the cover of Vogue Czechoslovakia last year and I had fun with it—playing with layers of self-portraiture in self-portraiture. At the occasion of the Vogue cover I was finally able to announce a new HBO documentary about me and my work—World Between Us—that has been in the making since 2018. The director, Marie Dvořáková, started filming two weeks before my first solo show in New York and followed me and art historian, curator, and my partner Thomas Beachdel since. They finished filming last July and the release is planned for this year! It is a love story sparked by art.”

HOT TAKE

“Sustainability in fashion. Buying less, wearing it forever, reusing, thriving in minimalism.” – Marie Tomanova

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