Yesterday, we went to see Arkadi Duchin’s premier performance of his new album and songs. At the last minute (to be more precise – the last 24 hours) some of my images were incorporated into the visual art-work that was displayed on a large screen on stage.
My efforts to share my photography work (StillCreation, SweetClarity) have always been rooted in a wish to share with others something of the magical experiences that have been bestowed on me. Almost all of my work has taken place in improvised settings – creating alongside talented, inspiring and passionate people. For me, images that are created in this work are echoes of fleeting and sometimes life-changing moments in which I was present. I make images available to others in the hope that something from those experience will touch them as well.
In this spirit I answered the invitation to incorporate my work into Arkadi’s performance. Arkadi is a talented and well renowned artist in Israel. His recent songs are anchored in spiritual studies and the texts I encountered offered a warm embrace to my images. With this in heart I embraced the invitation and offered my works. Yesterday some of them met an audience of ~500 people, and over coming months they may meet many more. For this I am grateful.
On a more personal, may be more egoistic, note, I did not enjoy seeing my images the way the were displayed. There were a 2 or 3 moments in which incidental meetings between images and words resonated in my heart. There were many more moments where I encountered wonderful opportunities for wonderful meetings between words, music and images – but they did not manifest. When my images were screened, I felt as if I was one of the musicians on stage – but it felt as if my microphone wasn’t properly connected – I was getting cut off mid-phrase and then reappearing out of context.
The dialogue about including my images began a week before the performance. 24 hours before the performance I spoke to the video artist for the first time and sent her images for preparation and editing. There simply wasn’t enough time & space to create a caring and intimate relationship between the images, the songs and the performance. I would have liked to spend more time creating a deeper relationship. I would have preferred that the visual art work received caring attention as the songs did when they were written, the musicians forged in rehearsing and playing together and the production received in light, sound, documentation and recording.
I hope this was just a beginning and that there will be an opportunity to develop the work.