Culture Wire: Afghanistan in 4 Frames
Posted by Admin on Apr 22, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments
Welcome to CultureWire, I am Meg Shiffler. Today we are here Beautiful Civic Center Plaza and I am here with artist James Lee
“Hi James!”
“Hi Meg”
And James has been exhibiting artist in Arts Commission gallery new exhibition Afghanistan in 4 Frames and we are gonna have a little chat today. About to buy a brick that year presenting its called, Counter Narrative. Now after you left the military what come you to go back to you know it a place where the US is engaged in military action.
“Sure I think it is interesting if you look that the population in Afghanistan is you know around $29 million and there is probably no more than with eighty thousand US soldier serving in and Afghanistan right now. But if you look at the stories a command in Afghanistan you think that the the numbers are completely reversed all the stories are about america. NEC almost no images are stories and about the Afghan people themselves. So I think if you look at that like the kind of dominate represent representational paradigm that we see today it is all about foreign soldiers. So my idea was to go there and try and create a counter to that, popularized narrative and focus on images and stories that really reflect their lived experience and complicate the lies about young people.”
Now you are exhibiting with three other photographers, Reklama, Eros hoagland and Lynsey Addario and it is true all three of them have really focused in the areas, where a lot of US and allied forces are seeing action. You know are actually involved in combat. And so your story is quite different than theirs, what does it mean to you show your body of work alongside give the stories that and probably are more familiar. What kind of juxtaposition does that create for you as an artist.
“Well, I think the strength to creating a bringing those two different stories together is that I think there’s a real danger in at focusing only on surface similarities between complex. When people look at a body work and I say all I see that this is competent photography reminds me in somalia and if you might be in Iraq. I think that’s really dangerous because I think there are very unique elements to each complex. And if you do not focus on those distinctions you start to create his broader kind have watered down a topic which is armed conflict. So I think it is important that we focus on conflict we make sure we don it is generalized only allowed specific places invoices and people to be heard we do not make these kind of a generalized assumptions about the conflict is really like.”
So James the other photographers in the show one of them is local Eros hoagland and the other two are from elsewhere – from New York and Lynsey Addario and is based in New Delhi. What do you really like about them and their work if you can be particular.
“Sure, I am a big fan of Teru’s (Teru Kuwayama) work. I also like the fact that he approaches photography from a I non-traditional point of view. He also kind a has a and nextera cameras himself he cames toys at all cameras are toys.”
You know, through uses these cameras that one might similar as toy’s. But he also says all the toy cameras our cameras. So it doesn’t really matter to him what he is using to take the images as long as he is getting the images that he wants. And his images because they are taking with these film cameras have a very different feel, than the other photograph in the show. And what did they think that I like maybe we could talk about for a minute is that Lynsey Addario his body of work, women at war is running down one fight at the hall and it is all about women in Afghanistan and how they fared in their special interaction with I’m civilian women in communities which is the special role that women soldiers play in Afghanistan. And across Eros Hoagland works which is extremely masculine. And black and white really aggressive what do you think about that juxtaposition between their two bodies avert you have any thoughts on that.
“I really like a Lindsey’s contribution to the can exhibit. She also should think I like I do, so it is great to see some more color an exhibit. She definitely has a gift for capturing distinct moments that balance the conflict that these are women or are facing day-to-day. But also very intimate very feminine moments. I mean she has one image in particular where if he must hold soldier is a shame air like, you know at the beginning at every day and it is just its kind of add. Thing to consider but obviously happens every day. But people do not think about the challenges that face women in these types of environments, where they continue to be a famine in the continue to be women but they also serve by a role in Afghanistan. And I think Lynsey allows used to come in and see this kinda intimate moments that we might not normally think about.”
Disclosure to our Culture Wire interview, I am actually the curator of the shower and when the things I was interested in with your work and with the other bodies at work that I selected. Was that you are presenting, a real human perspective. Each of you serious on individuals and that kind of sensitive instrument or private moments.
“I think if you look in most people’s lives today and where they spend their live it is probably not that different from what goes on on some unease larger for topping basis. I mean they have cafeterias they have internet cafes, they have laundromats, they have their own spaces where they read, play video games I mean it’s really like a small my crew cause my what they might find back in United States.”
What do you have that viewers take away. From seeing of your body of work or the exhibition at the whole.
“I think it is important for people to question how much we know or don’t know about Afghanistan but complex in general. Too often today I think we see one or two images and we think we understand what is going on in a in a and apart the world and we should try and get away from that was a question. What we know about a conflict where we got an information always look for new perspectives new focuses on public that we think we really understand.
Jame’s thanks a lot for spending time with us today and Culture Wire and congratulations, about the exhibition and length differences get be this big body of work in years. Thank you so much.