ONE - THE NEW PROJECT
Recently, I had the pleasure of completing my second photo
session with Mani Bruce Mitchell for my new work, ONE .
Mani also appears in Assume Nothing and identifies as
intersex. Whilst Assume Nothing explored the diversity of
gender, ONE investigates the fundamental connection
underlying the diversity of humanity. To have Mani, a gentle and
powerful ambassador for the acceptance of diversity, participate in
ONE creates an appropriate sense of continuity, assisting
the transition of artistic focus from one project to the next.
Mani and I 2005
We photographed on Wellington's
wild South Coast with a documentary film crew* following us. This
vastly contrasts to the very private and intimate Assume Nothing
photo shoot with Mani in 1998. The suggestion of the expanding
audience, of humanity viewing humanity, reflects the content and
context of the new project.
Chris Pryor filming me
photographing Mani 2005
Working on ONE has required
a huge shift in my usual process. With Assume Nothing , I
worked in the intimate and controlled environment of the studio. The
images I aimed to achieve required a rapport created by a
development of the relationship between myself and my subject. The
production of the images was equally as deliberate, using a medium
format film camera, and then many hours of careful printing in the
darkroom.
For the ONE work , in stark
contrast, I'm generally fronting up to strangers in the street,
asking them if I can take their photograph there and then! My
personal challenge in this is to create instant rapport and
connection. I've discovered agreement to the photographic
proposition comes down to me being open and connected to each person
I approach. So the exploration of fundamental human connection that
is the ONE project, very clearly starts with me.
Me
photographing “Aunty” at Auckland international airport 2005
My aim is to photograph 1000 people and, whilst
acknowledging diversity is limitless, for the purpose of the work I
intend to include a wide range of ethnicity, age, gender identity,
profession, religion/ spirituality, class, sexuality, physicality
and disability within the series of images.
ONE will
be screened as a moving image piece, with each person's face
dissolving slowly over the previous one. The subject's eye position
on screen will be consistent. Thus, after viewing the work for a
period of time, a sense of connection among the subjects will become
apparent.
I'm interested in screening ONE in public
places around the world. In 2006, for example, it will be presented
in Melbourne at the PLATFORM 2 gallery ( www.platform.org.au
). The gallery is located in the central Melbourne railway station
concourse and has foot traffic of 10,000 people every day. I love
the idea of such a diversity of people viewing ONE ,
mirroring the core theme of the work; each viewer further enabling
the work to build and fulfill its aim of reflecting and connecting
humanity.
In June of this year I traveled with Jack, my
partner, to Thailand. I wanted to include images of Thai people in
the ONE project but I was stumped as to how to negotiate
the language barrier. Some of the people I wanted to photograph
couldn't speak English and my Thai is non existent.
One
morning on Ko Samet we got rained in and were stuck in a thatched
roofed restaurant on the beach for hours (I can think of worse
places to get stranded - amazing Thai dishes and tropical fruit!)
Three Thai guys came in from the next bay around and were drenched.
They took shelter at the table next to us, got out their guitar and
proceeded to entertain us. We subsequently got chatting and, during
the conversation, I asked one of them if he could translate a blurb
about ONE into Thai script for me. This would ease the
process of the approach and explanation of the work to potential
Thai subjects. We worked on this while sharing the most amazing
steamed fish I've ever tasted!
The next day, when the rain
had stopped, I went, with Thai introduction in hand, to approach
people to photograph. In particular, there was a man with a lovely
face and energy who I'd regularly see when we went for our nightly
walk at dusk. He had a hammock strung between two trees on the
headland, a knapsack and a kettle. I'm not certain but I think that
was his home.
Jet 2005
I approached and handed him the Thai
script. He proceeded to answer in excellent English that he'd be
happy for me to photograph him! He offered me some ginger tea and we
sat chatting for ages. His name was Jet and, it turned out, he used
to be a photographer for fashion and travel magazines in Bangkok.
He'd opted out of that hectic lifestyle and now enjoys the pace of
Island life in his hammock.
In the course of talking about
photography, Jet said he found it really sad how Kodak and Ilford
had stopped producing fiber base paper as this would limit the
creativity of photographic artists reliant on it to print their work
. I was amazed - I'd only just heard that information myself before
I left for Thailand - through inside channels in the industry! Jet
had up to date information from the comfort and peace of his hammock
by the sea. It was a gentle reminder to Assume
Nothing.
UPDATE ON ASSUME
NOTHING
*Kirsty MacDonald is directing a ten-minute
documentary based on the collaboration of Mani and I to create the
images that appear in Assume Nothing.
Chris Pryor is the cameraman. Next year, Kirsty is making a
feature length documentary based on a selection of people from
Assume Nothing. This will most likely include
Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann, Georgina Beyer, Ema Lyon, Judith
Halberstam and Mani Bruce Mitchell.
Kirsty MacDonald doing the
stop frame animation for the documentary 2005
Assume
Nothing continues to sell steadily in the nine countries they
are distributed into. I'm receiving great feedback from around the
world from people who have discovered it.
I am still in the
midst of pursuing an American distribution deal.
America is
proving to be a hard nut to crack! If anyone reading this has any
contacts, knowledge or advice in regard to the American market,
publishers,distributors or media, it'd be great to hear from you! -
Rebecca@rebeccaswan.com
RECENT AND UPCOMING MEDIA
SLIT magazine September 2005
www.slit.cat.org.au
LAGANZ
newsletter , November/ December 2005
www.laganz.org.nz/friends
BENT
magazine, an issue before the end of the year.
www.bent.net.au
NZ
Books , December or March
www.bookcouncil.org.nz/community/media/nzbooks.html
NOTICES
If
you missed the previous newsletter you can view it on
www.bornkicking.com/rebeccaswan/
If
you would like to register a friend for the newsletter go to
www.rebeccaswan.com/contact.php
Don't
forget to log onto http://www.rebeccaswan.com/
and check out a selection of the new ONE
images.
Thanks for your support and interest, I always enjoy
getting feedback. The next newsletter will be out in January 2006 so
I look forward to writing to you then.
Rebecca Swan
|
