a visual dialogue

Marisol Mendez and Janne Amalie Svit, both far from their homes, found time to slow down for each other as kindred spirits and find mutual interest around their photographic practice to share and create in unfamiliar environments whilst far from home, Marisol from Bolivia was in Mexico and Norwegian Janne in South Korea. Not an easy task to ask of someone during the holidays and during their travels. Their text exchange to support the work is a sign of mutual support and respect and hints at the possibility of a potential ongoing connection.

Soft Encounters

Janne:
Hi Marisol!
My name is Janne Svit and I look forward to being in A Visual Dialogue with you.
I live in Norway. I teach photography and try to create work as often as I can between family life and work.  
I am currently in South Korea teaching, so I am far away from my normal habitat. But I think that this will be another layer in my pictures, as I feel a bit *lost in translation* here.
I guess we should start with deciding on a theme for our dialogue.  My work often revolves around the human condition from a personal perspective.
I have spent some time on your website and my first thought is that we share a common interest in pictures lingering between truth and fiction.
Maybe that is a starting point?

Marisol:
Janne, I think this dynamic will be very inspiring and I’m so glad to share it with you. I’ve been browsing through your work too. I love it ! I think we are both drawn to intimacy and our images contain subtleties and intricacies.Truth and fiction is the perfect place to start. Should we narrow it down a bit more? Or maybe suggest a set of initial approaches or exercises ?

Oh ! Also, I'm currently in Mexico. Seems we’re both away from home. That can also be a thread to follow :)

Janne:
Thank you for your kind words. here are some initial sketches on a napkin.

Marisol:
Absolutely in love with your napkins. I resonate with “soft encounters”. 

Janne:
Great. So that can be a working title for now?
I am so happy with our theme. It feels safe somehow, I guess the word soft makes me relax more. The fact that your work seems to also hold intricacies, subtleness and a mix of truth and fiction makes me oh so happy! I am really looking forward to this!!

Seeing my first image it might not feel so "soft" though, maybe close, personal, but it is a bit dark I guess. But that is something I guess you can say about most of my work, there is often something off or dark and  lingering in them.

My first A Visual Dialogue image to you is also very much affected by the fact that it is taken while I am having the worst jet lag of my life. Travelling to South Korea, working and not being able to sleep much and finding myself in another country very different to my home country, gave me this strange feeling of being lost and like a strange mix of David Lynch's Elephant Man or Narcissus.

So this digital collage is a kind of self portrait, a first hello from my inner Janne. I hope it resonates with you

Marisol:
Janne it’s so wonderful to connect this way :)

We begin our A Visual Dialogue far from home, exploring new landscapes, experiencing different cultures. A photographer from Norway in South Korea and one from Bolivia in Mexico. I wonder what we’ll conjure up.

I understand what you say about feeling lost, especially when you’re in unfamiliar territory.  Worse if you’re under all the stress you mention. Funny, because when I first saw your image I “heard” it too. To me, it sounded like a deep, uneasy inhale. The dismay is definitely there. I found your portrait intriguing. I wondered if it was you, someone else, or no one at all. I like how the subject remains ambiguous. Is it a virtual ghost, a digital mask, a re-touched face ?

I thought I’d reply with a different one, a non-human face.

You feel lost, I feel isolated. I usually go for portraits, but, lately, it’s like I’m disconnected from other people. I’m a lot on my own and inside my own head. These moments can be a bit melancholic, but I find them revitalizing.

You’ll notice my image has some ‘softer’ and traditionally feminine elements. Nonetheless, there’s a taint of violence. Maybe naming our encounters ‘soft’ was too hasty. We can’t seem to escape darker undertones ! Jajaja

Janne:
I am in love with this process!!! This is so fulfilling. Knowing that my image is for a specific person, aka you, is very inspiring. It feels like heartfelt letters in image form.

So we both introduce ourselves with masks. That is interesting I think. That we use "others likeness" to introduce ourselves. Still the image speaks to me very clearly, the sense of otherness, being lost or as you describe, disconnected. The photo looks right back at me, seeing me somehow. A good start to our dialogue.

Maybe “soft” is the wrong word, I was thinking of "close encounter", but then that is a movie reference to many I guess. I just think something that mirrors my(our) experience of this being a personal dialogue. Let me know what you think!

My next image is a new turn. Feeling like an imposter or not good enough if you like,this is a visualisation of not having something proper to give you I guess. But wanting to.

Marisol:
This process is so inspiring to me too. I think we’ve grown accustomed to consuming curated, well-thought-out discourses. The final image, the precise words, the succinct and the sublime. However, my process is messy, my step hesitant. I have to try out a lot of different things before I decide what works, what fits or makes sense. Coherence is part of the editing phase. Through the years I’ve befriended some colleagues whose eyes and vision I respect. It’s been amazing to cultivate a space to share our undeveloped images, our half baked ideas, our process and doubts with no filters or censorship. It’s through these exchanges that my work grows and nourishes.

To me this feels like an extension of that. Getting to know a bit more about you by weaving our impressions together sounds like the best game of exquisite corpse. Plus, It’s a ludic place, where perfection or sense are not to be expected.

Impostor syndrome is so common among creators, but I don’t know why you’re so worried. Your new image now tickles my sense of touch. I imagine the velvety interior in contrast with the dry fragility of the flower. This is also accentuated by the complementary blue and yellow tones. Whether it’s staged or a find, the photograph makes me melancholic. I try to imagine what different scenarios would lead to leaving a flower in a car seat to dry and die.  

Let’s stick to Soft Encounters. It is a perfect starting point, even if we both have already steered away from softness. Maybe we could revisit it when the series is complete. Let’s leave coherence for farther along in the process.

This photograph is from a sign outside a beauty parlour. The first time I saw it, I didn’t have my camera with me. I took a cellphone photo. That night when I was examining it, I realised that many details were not properly visible in this format. I thought the image deserved to be registered on film. Thus, I spent an entire afternoon trying to remember the place where I had located it. I retraced my steps and walked up and down multiple streets till I finally found it.

I love how the super impressions of images work so well. As a collage enthusiast, I was surprised to find an accidental one that spoke so loudly. Once again, the looming violence; tension below the surface.
Withered flowers accumulating dust and broken faces promoting beauty ideals.

Janne:
Your description of process really hit me! This sounds like my process of taking photographs, and is probably a part of my insecurities about photographing.

I did my bachelor degree in England in the late 90s early 2000s, and struggled with writing a thesis before lifting the camera. Photography always was an intuitive thing for me. A diary of ideas and thoughts, not all worked out. More like exploring ideas and experiences. Growing up (and now living) in a very rural place my inspiration and relationship to art was through books, fictional books. And they gave me the sense that fiction was the closest I could get to other people, that in fiction we are more honest somehow. So I think my photographs are still very much inspired by that, writers like Murakami, Allende etc.  

Your photo is multilayered like that. Not giving me all the answers. And I really like that. It is like a mirror and an image at the same time. She is me and also all of us somehow. A trace of beauty, an aesthetic we all know so well and as you say, broken and full of tension.

My answer I guess becomes more of my narrative I have started with my two previous ones. To me they are roots. A need to say where I come from I guess.

Marisol:
“In fiction we are more honest somehow’. I like how you phrased it. Makes me think of how it’s easier to grasp complex and nuanced concepts like love or time, through a poem or song rather than through scientific facts or philosophical quandaries. Or how our language is full of metaphors. Fiction is very human, so no wonder it feels honest.

Literature is also a major source of inspiration for me, and I gravitate to fiction there too ! During the making of MADRE, for example, I was reading a lot of Felisberto Hernandez. I was also getting acquainted with the multifaceted Pessoa. Then it became easier to tackle a photography essay that toyed with the idea of defying the notion of truth altogether.

Essay is a beautiful word; it means both ‘a piece of writing on a particular subject’, or as a verb, ‘to try’. These days I tend to say I do photo essays. With my practice, it’s always about the attempt.

That’s why I’m so excited with the turns our dialogue is taking. In your case, you're essaying different approaches to the subject of roots. So appropriate given you’re away from home. With me, it’s about essaying a new approach to image-making. I feel more comfortable with portraiture. I tend to stage photographs. However, these days I’m going out on the streets and looking for things that capture my attention. Now that I’m in Mexico, it’s both a way to get familiar with the city and to fight the feeling of disconnection.

I enjoyed the eeriness of your image. I propose one that matches the previous one I sent. Your roots float silently. I offer you a crash into a material sphere.

Janne:
Now I have two more writers I need to check out! (Hernandez and Pessoa).

It is curious how we both lean on literature as I often say that my photos are in the genre of magical realism, which is mostly used in literature I believe. By the way, I am  back in Norway now. In my small hometown of Verdal (population of 10.000...). A contrast to Seoul's busy streets you could say. It is full-on winter here in Mid Norway and polar nights ( mostly dark all day). So it's like we are all hibernating. Everything is slower here now. People are mostly indoors waiting for spring. The white outside, full of snow , does not trigger my creativity much right now. So I give you another flower, I found it to be beautiful though frozen by the ice cold outdoors. Also a nod to your flowers between the broken glass. The tonality of your pictures are so beautiful, I miss shooting on film.

Marisol:
I thought this photo was more aggressive. Something about the light gives me the impression that the flower was collected to be examined. The photograph reads like a register of its autopsy.
To this, I respond with the image of an image. I love to find discarded images. I’ve encountered all types, from kids drawings to film slides, in all kinds of places, from trees to garbage piles. I’m fascinated by how the original image transforms when it’s photographed.
To me, both our photos exhibit the interplay between the natural and the artificial.

Janne:
When you describe the love of finding these discarded images I can relate. Like you, I mostly stage my pictures. Still the joy of "finding" images, is something  that resonates completely with me and is very special.
This process of hours on foot with my camera is somehow meditative. Projecting myself onto my surroundings , hoping that today is the day with perfect light, the chance of something interesting happening etc... I like the idea that our photographs are a result of everything we have heard, felt, experienced and so on. And I often feel that the camera becomes a mask, a mask that makes me less shy and also gives me a reason to only observe, not interact with my surroundings. Like many others I use photography to reflect and better understand the human condition or myself you could say.

The melancholy of your photo is so strong. Did someone drop this photo or is it thrown away. And is it old or made to look that way? The narrative is open and intriguing.

My response is again a digital collage. Loaded with melancholy I hope, wanting to resonate with  your photo and text.

Marisol:
The collage you sent me reads like a foggy mirror, the deceit of time. I tried to respond with a photograph that offers a contrast to the magical quality of yours. This is perhaps my most traditional street photo so far. A decadent street, and the romance of the concrete.

Janne:
My final letter to you!

I must admit to finding it a bit sad that it is over soon. This process has given me a  deeper insight into your work, you feel familiar now, like a friend. This dialogue has been a great reflection practice, and as you say "Photography allows us to get closer to others". The photographs' indexical quality gives me the sense of being let in.

A self portrait is my last response. A close self portrait, distorted by the lens quality, still being as honest as I could. Looking back into your decadent street, at the postcard, the broken car window (?), the distorted ad and the doll head and at you Marisol or those who might see this image.

Marisol:
I’m sad it’s ending too. As you say, this dialogue has given us the space to produce and interrogate images, lay bare our doubts and insecurities and to understand that creating is a multifaceted affair.

I thought this last one was a self-portrait. What a poetic way to end your journey. The photograph is haunting and powerful. I particularly enjoy how different it is from the first image you sent that also contained you. The closeness has been established so now all masks are off and what is left is your gaze.

I believe my response reflects how I don’t want this dialogue to end. This is an abandoned ladder I photographed whilst in Cochabamba, my native city. I used expired film which gives it a touch of grittiness and I underexposed it to make an even darker atmosphere. To me, it feels like a ladder that leads nowhere or anywhere. Would you climb or descend it ?

I’ll end by saying that our Soft Encounters might not have been so soft with regards to the images we produced, but contained so much tenderness in the words we exchanged. It was a pleasure to converse with you, Janne. Thank you for being so sincere and open about your work.

Following the collaboration we asked Janne and Marisol about the experience.

Describe the collaborative process with a total stranger on the other side of the world.
Janne: I loved being in A Visual Dialogue! There was for me an immediate affection for the brief and also of course for Marisol and her work. It was like writing letters to a new pen pal. Introducing yourself and then eagerly waiting for the reply. It felt personal and also professionally very fulfilling. It made me contemplate and produce in a different framework than usual and that was very energizing and giving.
Marisol: I was very moved by this exercise. I think that this is a wonderful way to get acquainted with another photographer as it takes you behind the scenes of their creative process and grants you access to the thoughts and feelings that accompany it. 
I’m very lucky to have collaborated with Janne. It was easy to build intimacy with her. We coincided at a moment we both were far away from home so our dialogue became a way of keeping the other company, a place to decode the familiar and exercise our doubts. 
The experience was also challenging, especially due to time constraints. My creative process is usually long and contemplative and tends to revolve around people. However, I used this opportunity to essay a new approach to image-making. It was a bit intimidating at first, but Janne was a great supporter. Her openness allowed me to be vulnerable and more adventurous with my responses. 

How did the visual dialogue affect your work?
Janne: I am very happy with the outcome. Of course the images are affected by the short time frame and the fact that I was travelling half the time we made the Visual Dialogue, but that is besides the point somehow. The pictures are the «letters», our «Soft Encounter».
It is a process I have really enjoyed, Marisol has been a wonderful partner in this. The conversations and images are so giving.
Marisol: Looking at the final sequence of images feels as exciting as unfolding a sheet of exquisite corpses. I enjoy tracing the patterns that connect one image to the other or the details that generate tensions. 
I found our exchange very inspiring and I’m satisfied with the outcome. To me it reads as a shared travel journey.

How will it affect the way you work, or think about making work in the future?
Janne: I think this has given me new tools for creating work. Seeing my work more as a dialogue with one person, collaborating more, trying to respond to others' pictures visually, etc… A very giving process! So thank you Marisol and thank you see-zeen for this.
Marisol: A Visual Dialogue reminded me that although photography can be an introspective and solitary practice, there is always space for sharing and exchanging with others. I feel that it’s very healthy to get out of our heads once in a while. We have to shake things up and try new things so that our practice doesn’t become stale or repetitive. 
With Janne’s support and enthusiasm, I was able to experiment and propose alternative approaches to my photography. I hope to keep this bold spirit alive.

janne amalie svit @jannesvit
marisol mendez @marisol___mendez

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