Direction of Sight
Immersed in thoughts, you don't always realize that your gaze reveals your longings. A treasure box you never take out of your sight. That person you can't look in the eyes. The things you look for when you are not being watched. Your expression seems to reveal your secrets.
This was the first group scene I created for The Orientalist. In fact, it was the first group shot I ever took as a professional photographer. What appealed to me from the start in Orientalist paintings, the inspiration for this project, was the presence of elaborate group scenes. It's my impression that because of the web and our consumption of images in small screens we as photographers tend to create images that have just a few subjects and we try to be as 'obvious' as possible in our compositions. Of course, there are a number of artists who create elaborate and complex images, but as a general tendency, I believe my observation is valid.
With this scene, I wanted to give the viewer a chance to explore each individual character's emotion and context. When this project materializes as an exhibit, I want to print this photograph in a large format, to create an immersive experience. I was inspired by the idea of using a recurring character, performed by dancer Atmo Kranti, who has appear on another photograph, The Letter. The goal was to have a 'party scene', but one where each character had its own story going on. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you interpret the photograph.