Hello how are you (English) and then you reply:
fein danke ihnen und sie (German)
Around the 25th January...
I invited Fabian Pflaum (FP) via email to collaborate with me on this project. Most of the initial emails we chatted about the ideas and intentions of "Mich Ihnen Zu Antworte" (MIZA) project and FP asked relevant questions that 'forced' me to think, articulate and formulate my ideas and intentions. I am going to share these numerous conversations as one blog entry (edited and revised) hoping that they will provide an outline to this project... and then I will post our 'visual' conversations, one by one as they happen.
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THE INITIAL CONVERSATION
Where is this going too... anywhere!
FABIAN: Please explain more about the aim of it.
LIZA: This project is initially inspired by the writings of Susan Sontag (SS) from her book On Photography. SS writes that Photography functions as "a vehicle to certify experience" and is a means of "converting experience into an image, a souvenir" (2002:09). SS also refers to Photography as "a grammar and even more importantly an ethics of seeing" (2002:11) and continues to state that "it would not be wrong to speak of people having a compulsion to photograph: to turn experience itself into a way of seeing" (2002:10).
LIZA continues: What interests me about these writings are the words "experience", "grammar" and "ethics of seeing". I think of images like/as 'text'_ what they include and exclude (more important) speaks... but more specifically I question: Do they 'speak' more of the the experience of the photographer?
Of course this project is about that investigation... I don't know the answer.
FABIAN: What is the intention behind it?
LIZA: You sound like a supervisor_ which is a good thing. I intend to use the collaborations in an exhibition sometime next year, which also forms part of my Masters. I want to 'show' how the Photographs 'tells/speaks about' our experiences_ the private made public. I hope that these photographs will exhibit the 'juxtapositions' of our lives, our culture, preferences and even our gender_ same things taken at different places, similar photographic structure/language/composition, but the objects inform our male/femaleness, SA/German_nessness (as Bwalya would say) etc. These images will probably also test our Photographic abilities_ the ability to appropriate, and use a 'prescribed' or 'copied' photographic language.
FABIAN: Do you want me to do the same Photo in my world?
LIZA: Yes definitely. What I am thinking is this. I take a photo here in South Africa via my BlackBerry and email it to you directly after it is shot. You 'copy' it in your context, trying to keep similar objects and composition but defined by the objects and places around you... something like that! I also want the camera device to be readily available and 'non-technically' focused .
FABIAN: I don't have a cell phone with a camera, but I guess it can be compact cam as well? Do you want me to re-connect the content in my surroundings.
LIZA: Yes please as much as you can. Compact anything will work_ lets just try it.
FABIAN: Do you want to see the different cultural influence? Do you want to focus on cultural connotations? Style? Colour?
LIZA: Yes Yes Yes_ as much as you can without being self consciously so_ I am curious_ I think that this will 'happen' anyway.
FABIAN: Or is this about individual non verbal communication?
LIZA: Yes. It will in a sense be non verbal but will communicate a lot about each other.
FABIAN: How are you going to evaluate the results.
LIZA: I love your questions... that's exactly what I hope to address and feel the evaluation will come as I go along. Don't have a set criteria. I know I want to exhibit them and eventually put them on my Blog_ as a way of sharing our on going conversation with others and hope (always do, because it doesn't happen freely) that the readers of the blog will comment and create more conversations around our visual dialogue. Thinking it is as if I am saying in English: "Hello how are you" and you reply in German: "fein danke ihnen und sie (fine thank-you and you)"
FABIAN: I will try not to think much about the content and reflect the pictures your going to send from my point of view/part of the world. Do you still share breaks with Bwalya, eating couscous with avo from your white microwave?
LIZA: Nowadays Bwalya and I share cooked meals from the new staff Cafeteria at the Campus. See Image 25012011(011).jpg_ Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you.
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