Tuesday, 23 October 2007
FORMAT: DYPTYCH AND POLYPTYCH
I photograph about fifty barracks, over two days; then have the films developed.
Meanwhile, I consider how the images may be presented: with and without text…
The DYPTYCH format seems effective. Separating image and text enables the mind to move between text and image differently. With its new emphasis, the text acquires the status of monumental inscription.
Meanwhile, I consider how the images may be presented: with and without text…
The DYPTYCH format seems effective. Separating image and text enables the mind to move between text and image differently. With its new emphasis, the text acquires the status of monumental inscription.
ELOGES DE LA PERSPECTIVE: SERIES 2
I return to the Camp on a hot Summer's day and set out to photograph the barracks with a medium format camera.
The square format takes me away from the postcard association of the first series...
The square format takes me away from the postcard association of the first series...
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
PRINTING
A first proof (1/5) of 'Eight Postcards from Rivesaltes was printed in Dundee School of Art, by Mark Hunter, in 2006, on 310 gsm Lyson acid-free, archival smooth fine art paper:
PHOTO + TEXT
Overlayering the text over the image brings together two acts of witnessing: the text, anchored in the time of the event, and the photographic trace of a derelict site which bears the traces of successive half-hearted attempts at bulldozing it, as evidence of a 21st century mourning, in retrospect.
TRANSLATION:
13th March 1942, evening
'I went to Camp J: three are dying of hunger. One looks terrified. The other is in a state of total confusion. The third, a German, answers with a smile —'well'— to my question 'How are you feeling?'. His gaze is devoid of craving. One senses that he no longer needs anything.'
EIGHT POSTCARDS FROM RIVESALTES
The first set of photographs I take, in one single session, become the series Eight Postcards from Rivesaltes :
8 pictures each subsequently overlaid with a short text from Friedel Bohny-Reiter's Journal de Rivesaltes, to bring together the time of the events and the mute evidence of the ruins…
8 pictures each subsequently overlaid with a short text from Friedel Bohny-Reiter's Journal de Rivesaltes, to bring together the time of the events and the mute evidence of the ruins…
CIVIC DISOBEDIENCE
Whilst reading about the camp, I make illicit visits to the camp, repeatedly trespassing on military property to roam the camp, trying to IMAGINE life in the camp...
I return, over a period of two years, to reflect upon and to mourn the events which occured there: unspectacular events, compared with the exterminations camps, but events which I feel need to be acknowledged and remembered.
During these repeated acts of private civil disobedience, I become aware of my motivations: to act as WITNESS and to MOURN losses which I also regard as 'my'/'our' losses.
As an artist, it seems that taking a set of photographs of the site—to preserve both a trace of its existence for posterity (and to show it, before this evidence gets obliterated by official plans to turn part of the site into an MEMORIAL)—seems a legitimate starting point.
To avoid falling into the trap of photo-reportage, and to produce images sufficiently stylized and abstract not to be read literally, I impose a set of formal constraints upon the way the pictures are taken.
The choice of a fixed central viewpoint for all the pictures, and the rectangular format, give the title to the first series: 'In Praise of Perspective': Eight Postcards from Rivesaltes.
I return, over a period of two years, to reflect upon and to mourn the events which occured there: unspectacular events, compared with the exterminations camps, but events which I feel need to be acknowledged and remembered.
During these repeated acts of private civil disobedience, I become aware of my motivations: to act as WITNESS and to MOURN losses which I also regard as 'my'/'our' losses.
As an artist, it seems that taking a set of photographs of the site—to preserve both a trace of its existence for posterity (and to show it, before this evidence gets obliterated by official plans to turn part of the site into an MEMORIAL)—seems a legitimate starting point.
To avoid falling into the trap of photo-reportage, and to produce images sufficiently stylized and abstract not to be read literally, I impose a set of formal constraints upon the way the pictures are taken.
The choice of a fixed central viewpoint for all the pictures, and the rectangular format, give the title to the first series: 'In Praise of Perspective': Eight Postcards from Rivesaltes.
TWO YEARS OF REFLECTING
For two years I try to find out more about the camp, asking local people and reading about it in books written, in the main, by local historians:
L'Archipel du Mépris, Histoire du Camp de Rivesaltes des 1939 à nos jours, by Joël Mettay (published by Trabucaire, 2001). www.trabucaire.com
Le Camp de Rivesaltes 1941-1942: Du centre d'Hebergement au "Drancy de la zone libre", by Anne Boitel
(published by Presses Universitaires de Perpignan, 2000).
One of the most disturbing fact I come across in my readings is that, although the Vichy Government allocated funds to buy food for the inmates/prisoners, some guards steal food destined to the prisonners; including the food parcels sent by family, friends and relief agencies... A direct consequence of these thefts is death by starvation: a 'crime against humanity' that will never get prosecuted...
Reading the diary of Swiss Red Cross nurse FRIEDLE BOHNY-REITER, JOURNAL DE RIVESALTES (1941-1942), who worked in the camp between 1941 and 1942, to alleviate the ordeal of pregnant women and children, in close collaboration with the maternity of Elnes, opens up human perspectives about life in the camp.
L'Archipel du Mépris, Histoire du Camp de Rivesaltes des 1939 à nos jours, by Joël Mettay (published by Trabucaire, 2001). www.trabucaire.com
Le Camp de Rivesaltes 1941-1942: Du centre d'Hebergement au "Drancy de la zone libre", by Anne Boitel
(published by Presses Universitaires de Perpignan, 2000).
One of the most disturbing fact I come across in my readings is that, although the Vichy Government allocated funds to buy food for the inmates/prisoners, some guards steal food destined to the prisonners; including the food parcels sent by family, friends and relief agencies... A direct consequence of these thefts is death by starvation: a 'crime against humanity' that will never get prosecuted...
Reading the diary of Swiss Red Cross nurse FRIEDLE BOHNY-REITER, JOURNAL DE RIVESALTES (1941-1942), who worked in the camp between 1941 and 1942, to alleviate the ordeal of pregnant women and children, in close collaboration with the maternity of Elnes, opens up human perspectives about life in the camp.
START HERE: CAMP DE RIVESALTES
In 2004, whilst driving in the vicinity of Rivesaltes, we note a number of barracks surrounded by barb wire:
On closer inspection, we encounter various signs forbidding access to the public, stating that this is MILITARY PROPERTY:
My partner and I dare to trespass, climbing over the barb wire. We soon pass the gate of a compound which, although closed and locked, looks operational. Taking care not to be seen from what looks like a security lodge, in the distance, we walk along avenues lined with derelict barracks; then go home, intringued by what we have seen, and speculating about the camp's previous and current uses.
On closer inspection, we encounter various signs forbidding access to the public, stating that this is MILITARY PROPERTY:
My partner and I dare to trespass, climbing over the barb wire. We soon pass the gate of a compound which, although closed and locked, looks operational. Taking care not to be seen from what looks like a security lodge, in the distance, we walk along avenues lined with derelict barracks; then go home, intringued by what we have seen, and speculating about the camp's previous and current uses.
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