a visual dialogue continued

For our 2nd anniversary issue, we asked our A Visual Dialogue artists to create a special image for us. They were all given five words to choose from, (Awakening, Birth, Celebration, Seed, Renaissance) and had to base their concept on one word and simultaneously respond to the previous photographer's image within 72 hours. This collaborative and co-operative stream of images is inspired by our regular feature A Visual Dialogue.

Text by Angie Carrillo Torres

It is common to observe in all artistic manifestations that certain themes tend to be repeated regardless of the time line in which they are found or due to other differential factors. The diversity of techniques, methodologies, theories and even the sources of inspiration in the wide world of art reflect the innate capacity of the human being to constantly create and innovate, however this does not guarantee that the themes operate under the same logic. Usually, if one looks back in time, it is possible to perceive how different artists from different contexts respond or allude to the same theme using completely different means, thus generating new narratives on the same subject.

But what would be the result if a group of photographers individually created works inspired by a specific theme based on a previous work by someone from the same group? Would the works be similar? Would the discourse of the works change completely depending on the artist? The latter is what we would expect to happen, since no idea is usually repeated in exactly the same way, or else no one thinks in the same way.

This was precisely the very interesting experiment that took place in issue #9 of see-zeen entitled Collab:Co-op to celebrate its second anniversary; in this issue, nineteen contemporary photographers were asked to create an image taking into account the previous photograph of one of their peers and one of the following words: Awakening, Birth, Celebration, Seed and Renaissance. This is a complex task that challenges the photographer to work with a collective mentality as if it were a “chain” or an "exquisite corpse" without losing its individual essence.

To begin with, artist Marie Wengler presents her response to the first photograph in this series Flux, by Domonkos Varga; his work expresses the message of the flow of life and the path of uncertainty. Wengler exhibits two portraits entitled A Hundred Years Apart. The author, who stands out for giving a broader meaning to bodily deviation and the limits of normality in her photographs, presents the image of two women who seem to share a family bond. With the seductive phrase “The face of progression in times of regression” accompanied by some personal information about both women, the author seems to express the qualities, differences and similarities between two epochs and how the passage of time implies a transformation up to the unfavorable conjunctures of the present. In response to these powerful depictions, Lan Chung-Hsuan presents Ghosts of the Ocean, while retaining the historical sense that Wengler seems to have wanted to express more intimately by adding herself as part of the comparative portrait. In Lan Chung-Hsuan's intervened photograph, his characteristic style linked to historical conflicts can be perceived. It is evident that there is a balance between the past and the present that the photographer wanted to emphasize; the nostalgic memory of a victory accompanied by uncertainty and uneasiness; emotions that could be understood as the "ghosts".

The next work is Sacred Surge by Curro Rodriguez, whose approach is based on the idea of renaissance. Its description is key, and is probably what links it to the meaning of the previous work. Rodriguez refers to the need to perish in order to be reborn, which in the eyes of Chung-Hsuan in a background of conflict, directly implies death. In addition, the details of the photograph containing a painting seem to be related to the context of sacred art and catholic tradition, something that could be deduced from the title. This photograph conveys the message of death in its pure state, while the series continues with Jeong Hur portraying the opposite: birth. Hur connects his perspective of birth from cultural aspects that he briefly explains about Korean traditions and beliefs. There is a sculpture of a face that seems to emerge from the sacred water the author refers to; waters that are said to shed the burdens of the past and fill the souls of those who gather there with the hope of a new beginning. In the photograph, the face itself appears elusive, creating a sublime state of intrigue, as if something were about to happen or as if the sculpture were about to come to life.

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In the following photograph entitled Dichotomous Dolly, the previous concept of birth merges with the concept of awakening, this time from a social perspective that highlights the presence of queer people. It could be inferred that the person in the photograph is going through an acceptance process of their identity in a place like Central Appalachia, where sexual and gender diversity seems to represent a challenge due to conservative norms. The Awakening can also be understood as both individual and collective rebirth, giving a space of visibility and freedom of expression to the queer community. It is intriguing how Hur presents his gray sculpture Se-Sin, with eyes closed, while Major contrasts with a colorful and meaningful portrait of a person with eyes wide open, as if, somehow, the transition from sculpture to the human form embodies a new beginning. The latter notion fits the narrative thread that will continue to unfold.

Mackai Sharp's photograph Migration shows an anonymous individual surrounded by what appears to be his belongings lying on the ground. The title implies that the individual has embarked on a journey to a new and unfamiliar place seeking a change, even if it involves certain challenges or sacrifices. The anonymity of the character may contain an indirect message, such as the fact that this is a common situation faced by thousands of people all the time. In other words, anyone can be this character. Janne Amalie Svit, responds to Sharp with the phrase “I give you a seed. I am so happy the change came”. Is it the person in Sharp's photograph who has found the change? Is Svit the one who gave that "metaphorical seed" to the unnamed character?... She continues the black and white aesthetic in Days like These where a girl travels in a vehicle to another place. Moving implies a transformation, implies motion and a new beginning, which has already been understood in the works mainly by Major and Hur.

The narrative once again, connects back to the essence of Lan Chung-Hsuan regarding conflict and war. Given the artist Pavlo Borshchenko's background, his work seems to be related to the war going on in his country, Ukraine. In addition, his work has focused on highlighting certain qualities of Eastern European culture, sometimes harkening back to the past. Depressurization has a strong and heartbreaking symbolism. It represents the sudden unleashing of unfortunate and probably chaotic events that were expected to happen. The photograph shows what appears to be a face made of rock, which opens in half like a door and gives way to a small army illuminated from the inside. It not only evokes the idea of an external conflict, but an internal and deeply personal one, as someone preparing to face its reality and what it means.

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In fact, political and social issues are reflected in several photographs of this series, as in the case of the work Made in USA by Chilean photographer Paula Carmona Araya, where the concept of awakening could be a call to reflect on the economic implications of global production and trade, as well as the need to question the inequality that masks a mercantile system. The engraving of the number 400 that has been marked on her skin, not only characterizes her original style, but also, from her position as a Latin American woman, could suggest the impact this has left on her life and artistic work. Dmitry Pechurin answers her with the transformation of the same message but applied to his social reality: “The workforce of globalism is conservative”. The photograph Made In My Country contains characteristic symbols of nationalism and identity. This theme continues with the work entitled Highway Star, by the duo Panos Charalampidis and Mary Chairetaki, in which a Greek flag rises above huge rocks covered in fog. The image, along with the caption We Live by the Binds of History raises the question: who am I without the (my) past, without the seeds of history?

Returning to Borshchenko's thread, we find a photograph by Alexander Wamsley, who contributes his vision on the theme of Awakening. The way he expresses it, is particular. He captures an ordinary moment, but the symbolism that such a scene carries is what makes the image be understood as a space of reflection, of being aware, of living in the here and now. Flash Photography expresses “an instant of life”. Next, the striking image Dreamscape Unveiled generated through artificial intelligence, contrasts Wamsley's “consciousness” with the “unconscious”. The photograph somehow captures the way dreams work according to psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, who understands oneiric material as messages from the subconscious. Perhaps this is the reason why Glish Group hides the face behind heavy veils. Mari Masouriou with her work Cosmic Blossom anchors her concept through Lacanian theory, explaining how her sunflower is a sky that in her own words “evokes reflections on my own subjectivity, desires and the perpetual search of meaning within the boundless depths of the universe”.

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Interestingly, Michal Semczyszyn's photograph The Crowd connects with Masouriou more for the visual resemblance rather than the concept itself. The dried sunflower seeds resemble stacked heads of nails, which, in turn, confuse the viewer, as if they were real heads, although their meaning is linked more to the passage of time and the permanence of the human being. As a matter of fact, the resemblance between images is also observed between Wamsley and Marisol Méndez's photograph Black Bird, which also features the sky and the trees. In this photo the protagonist is a small bird that “sings at dawn” and is surely another way of understanding the idea of Awakening. This image follows Elena Subach's photograph, which in a discreet manner introduces the theme of the war in Ukraine. When compared to Borshchenko's vision, it is quite evident that both have completely opposite perspectives when it comes to portraying this tragic event. Flowers for Everyday Life, on the other hand, rescues the positive and shows a grateful attitude towards life, despite the adverse conditions. Borshchenko is a bit more explicit and illustrates the pain and fear he carries within himself.

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Finally, who puts an end to this chain of stories, is Red Rubber Road with Almost Dusk, where a rag figure rests in a fetal position simulating the image of a baby or a child. This image goes together with the phrase “Not only humans sleep”, leaving a feeling of emptiness in the viewer. This scene is the dusk of dawn in Méndez' work.

After this journey through stories, colors, shapes, patterns, expressions, sensations and feelings, it is possible to understand the interweaving that is formed from a theme, a word or an image. We see the mutation of an idea that goes through intimate places, heartbreaking places, shocking landscapes, ephemeral details, named faces and even anonymous characters. The theme was approached from personal, historical, psychological, cultural, social and political points of view. With the choice of a single word, nineteen people, through a lens, underwent a process of transformation of their ideas that resulted in what the human being is: a set of experiences and more experiences.