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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