PARADISCO
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"BEING CONTENT IN THE HERE AND NOW, NOT MEANT IN A COMPLACENT OR FAT WAY. APPRECIATING AND STUDYING WHAT IS THERE, WHAT IS HERE. EXACT OBSERVATION OF THE SURFACE OF THINGS IS THE KEY OF UNDERSTANDING ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD. SURFACE IS ALL WE HAVE. IF I DON T GIVE MYSELF TIME TO CAREFULLY STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE SURFACE OF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE I DON T NEED TO START AT ALL. START WITH OBSERVATION, THE RESULT WILL FOLLOW." WOLFGANG TILLMANS, 2005 PARADISCO IS A SERIES OF SOCIOLOGICAL PORTRAITS, OR RATHER SOCIO-STILL-LIFES, DONE IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS. AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, I VE BEEN PRIMARILY INTERESTED IN HUMAN SITUATIONS, IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF COMMON CONVENTIONS. IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, HOWEVER, PARALLEL TO THAT SEARCH I BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE ATTEMPT TO TRANSLATE AND DECODE OUR IMMEDIATE AND LARGER ENVIRONMENTS. AS WITH ALL MY SEARCHES, I APPLY THE SAME METHODS, I NEITHER LIMIT THE TIME NOR THE DIRECTION OF MY QUEST, AND I DO NOT EXPECT RESULTS, IT IS THE OBSERVATION ITSELF THAT REMAINS MY FOCUS. THE MELANCHOLY OF LANDSCAPES AND STILL-LIFES ALLOW ME TO INVESTIGATE THE FRAGILITY AND TENABILITY OF EXISTENCE, IT ALSO ALLOWS ME TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PERPETUALLY VALID SYMBOLS OF VANITAS, OR ABOUT THAT ROOTS OF FEAR AND FRUSTRATION WHEN THINKING OF THE UNSTOPPABLE PROBABILITY AND CADUCITY OF LIFE. ANDREA GÁLDI VINKÓ, 2014