Platform for discussion001
What do we need to know about the MENA region today?
For this project I have used a pinhole square-format camera to take urban pictures of a metropolis. From the start, this device produced a paradox. The long exposure times and the low quality of the images it takes do not fit with the documentary genre. Intentionally I have used the apparatus to sweep out the crowd, to show a deserted city and to create an apocalyptic atmosphere. In my mind, these images evoke the actual situation we are/were living in. These photos were taken two years ago and now we are experiencing a totally different history in our city. In another way I tried to pay homage to the great early twentieth-century photographer, Eugène Atget. The colours of these photographs are gloomier than the greys in Atget's images.
What is a platform?
A platform is a space for speaking in public. It is an opportunity to express ideas and thoughts. It also suggests the formal declaration of a stance or position on any given subject.
Unique to Ibraaz is a 'platform', a question put to writers, thinkers and artists about an issue relevant to the MENA region. This platform is sent to respondents both within and beyond the MENA region and contributions will be archived every 12 months.