Your name
Alnis Stakle
Place of birth
Livani, Latvia
Place where you live now
Daugavpils, Latvia
3 words to describe you
melancholy, coffee and image addict
Why do you take pictures?
It's how I experience the world and learn to live with it.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I am inspired by simple things around me - people, sounds, nature.
Who are your influences?
I have been most influenced by cinema, often Asian cinema, such as Woman in the Dunes by Hiroshi Teshigahara or Kim Ki-duk films.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
I choose to work with themes that are closely connected to my feelings about specific situations or places. It is something that does not leave me alone for long, and photography acts as a self-therapeutic medium to find peace. My projects are often linked to the collective past of my culture.
What impact would you like your art to have?
I hope society can learn from art and bring its sensitivity into everyday life. However, since art and the creative industries currently have little to no influence on global politics, I stay realistic and do not expect my work to have a utopian impact on society, not even on one person or process.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Luc Tuymans paintings
Is there anything you want to add?
no

The Flow of Things
Project statement

The intersection of history and imagination has long been a fertile ground for exploration in visual storytelling. This work series seeks to redefine the boundaries of this domain by offering a decolonial perspective on historical narratives and personal archives. By leveraging open-access image archives and my photography, this project challenges dominant visual representations of the past, crafting a novel approach to collective memory and identity formation.

The digital age has precipitated a significant transformation in the visual landscape, characterized by the proliferation of digital documentation and image archives. This shift has expanded the possibilities for visual storytelling, enabling the creation of connections and dialogues that transcend traditional media limitations. However, these visual archives often reflect colonial and imperialist perspectives, embodying the biases and power structures inherent in their creation.

Drawing inspiration from ongoing efforts to decolonize various humanities disciplines, this project aims to reconceptualize visual narratives' epistemological and aesthetic foundations. Doing so challenges prevailing references and assumptions that have long dominated the field. The methodology involves critically engaging with open-access image archives, unraveling and recontextualizing past narratives. This approach acknowledges the need to scrutinize the cultural influences that shape our understanding of visual representations, moving beyond the notion of timeless, decontextualized mirrors of objective data. The project employs collage as its primary medium, drawing from arts-based research methodologies. This technique enables the juxtaposition of multiple ideas within a single work, facilitating a nuanced exploration of complex historical narratives. By doing so, the project contributes to ongoing efforts to redefine the boundaries of visual culture, reclaiming agency for marginalized discourses and amplifying their voices.

alnis stakle
@theoryofme