I called this collection “self-reflection” because I observed that in Abastan – in what one hoped for, what one loved or hated about it – everyone found a reflection of him- or herself. How can I capture this self-reflection through images? How can I convey a sense of place and its people through fractals of time? I decided to make a story where the scenarists are the space itself and the people whom I capture through short interviews. I decided to be poetic with my questions, making it possible for people to respond with body language and not just words.
First, I asked each participant to select a place in the factory building where they felt comfortable to have our conversation. Then I asked my questions in the following order:
“If you were to describe Abastan through a metaphor, a physical object, what would that object be?” The moment when they were thinking I took a photo of them. With this, I wanted to capture a strong emotional moment, an expression of thought between appreciation and dreaming about where one would want to be and what one wished to see.
Then I asked them to explain their idea more. At this moment I was capturing the hands, since I saw these hands as an embodiment of kindness, empathy, and physical labor invested in building this community.
With my last question I would ask “can you show me with your body movement how you would describe communication in Abastan?” This beautiful moment I would capture with long exposure, capturing countless images to portray infinite complexity of interpersonal communication.
This is us!
My goal in this self-reflection exercise was to show the importance of individual introspection for any collective endeavour and achievement of shared goals.
PS: I wish I could capture many more of the people who have worked so hard in Abastan over the past two years.
In cooperation with:
