LENS
We were dropping teddy bears in parachutes over an air defense base in the capital Minsk . I was on the ground to film when we were illegally flying over the stronghold of the last dictatorship in Europe . A few generals got fired as a result of the stunt . And I think a minister of defense lost his job . Which lead to me being chased by the KGB and receiving death threats . My work has also brought me to Zimbabwe , illegally filming inside Harare when making a project mocking the dictator Robert Mugabe . In these dire situations , getting caught was , naturally , not an option .
In comparison , getting arrested in Brussels for an art installation I produced and documented is a walk in the park . But it ’ s impossible to know and predict really . I ’ ve experienced hostile situations in a lot of places , from Johannesburg to my own small hometown . I think in general we have much larger safety margins that we think .
What valuable life insights has photography taught you ?
That the way you look makes all the difference . Everything can become a great picture approached the right way . As a boy , I was told about the work of this photographer whose name I have forgotten ; all he did was take pictures of his garden his entire life . Magnificent pictures . Sometimes it ’ s harder to look carefully at what surrounds you . If anything , photography has taught me that life contains much more beauty than what is sometimes obvious . retrospect , I can replay scenes in great detail . So in one sense , photography is a quite personal approach to not love in oblivion . I will keep recording these memories , fragments of scenes , stories and situations . Some I will keep sharing , some I ’ ll keep for myself .
In this age of rapid digital consumption , would you say there ’ s still space for quiet introspection and emotional exploration ?
I ’ m pretty biased here . The entry of new layers , methods and approaches to digital consumption will , with absolute certainty , change what ’ s relevant from a reader ’ s perspective . But people seem to show no decline in consuming stories , and people will keep wanting different kinds of stories . It ’ s like the keys of a piano . We need the full spectrum . It ’ s always been like that , from Homer to Shakespeare . At no point in history has only one kind of story been in demand . A world consisting only of punch lines and memes would be intolerable . Now , as well as in the future .
What does photography do for you , and where do you intend to take it in the future ?
It ’ s my preferred way to tell stories . And I can ’ t imagine a life without stories . For me stories can be very fragmented , a short scene or a situation , a vague memory , something that may be hardly visible but still able to provoke feelings .
Not unlike Japanese stone gardens , stories can be expanded far beyond what ’ s visible or told . I need to document and formulate them in order not to forget . People sometimes tell me of things I ’ ve been part of which I can hardly remember . But when I carry my camera my vision is changed ; I remember things in a different way .
I don ’ t really need to take photos ; just bringing the camera sharpens my senses and makes me remember the smallest details . And when looking at the pictures in
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