PHOTO PROJECT

In the migrant crisis of the 21st century, photography has shown the duality of its influence. On one hand, it serves as a powerful testimony of the horrors of war, search for security and justice. On the other, it reveals its inability to make those who betrayed humanity come to their senses. The controversy about ethics and sensationalism within photography during the general collapse of humanity has led to a redefinition of the very notion of ethics.

Confronting the notions of reality and representation with a photograph My sky is your sky, Stefana Savić examines the way migrants are portrayed in a changed context. Contrary to the expected collective depictions of people at border crossings, in columns or refugee camps, she represents a distinct female figure with disguised identity in the interior.

This migrant woman is not waiting for anyone, asking for anything. With a camera in her hands, she discovers an active role in her temporary environment. The observer is forced to think beyond the obvious and expected. Thus we read blue of an improvised photographic studio’s flat background as the blue of the sky, reading in what is missing – the narratives of freedom and boundless space which belongs to everybody. By changing the context and penchant for citation, the ‘meaning’ changes and the seeker becomes one of us.

text by Sladjana Petrovic Varagic

translated into English by Goran Gocić

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MOJE NEBO JE TVOJE NEBO

Slađana Petrović Varagić

U migrantskoj krizi 21. veka fotografija je pokazala dualnost svoga uticaja. S jedne strane ona je moćno svedočanstvo o užasu rata, traženju sigurnosti i pravde, dok se sa druge strane otkriva njena nemoć da urazumi one koji su izdali čovečanstvo. Polemika o etičnosti i senzacionalizmu u fotografiji u opštem kolapsu humanosti dovela je do redefinisanja samog pojma etičnosti.

Suočavajući pojmove stvarnosti i reprezentacije, fotografijom My sky is your sky, Stefana Savić preispituje način prikazivanja migranata u izmenjenom kontekstu. Nasuprot očekivanih grupnih prikaza ljudi na granicama, u kolonama, izbegličkim kampovima, ona predstavlja izdvojenu žensku figuru prikrivenog identiteta u enterijeru.

Ova migrantkinja ne čeka, ne traži. Sa fotoaparatom u rukama, ona otkriva aktivnu ulogu u svom privremenom okruženju. Posmatrač biva primoran da promišlja izvan očiglednog i očekivanog, pa plavetnilo plošne pozadine improvizovanog fotografskog studija iščitavamo kao plavetnilo neba učitavajući ono što nedostaje, a to su narativi slobode, bezgraničnog i jednakopripadajućeg prostora. Promenom konteksta i citatnošću menja se „značenje“ i tražilac postaje jedan od nas.