Penitenciarul de Femei Tirgsor. Atelier de fotografie
Fotografii de Simona D., Stefania G., Klein T., Cosmo, Mariana Clipa, Y.Z.
Ideea atelierului a fost a domnisoarei Raducanu, seful departamentului de reintegrare de la Penitenciarul de Femei Tirgsor. Nu e noua, am mai citit despre astfel de ateliere intr-un album al fotografului Klavdij Sluban. M-am oferit instantaneu. Am plusat spunind ca fetele ar trebui lasate in puscarie cu aparate foto pe tot parcursul cursului. M-am gindit ca fac eu rost de undeva de ele. L-am sunat pe Marian Alecsiu de la F64 si i-am explicat ce vreau: citeva aparate point and shoot, carduri, baterii si doua luni imprumut. Poate iese de-o expozitie. Iese.
Am primit sase Canon PowerShot pe care le-am luat cu mine la Tirgsor, in iulie. Aparatele ma speriau, aveau asa de multe butoane si cartea tehnica era atit de stufoasa incit am fost sceptic ca poate cineva sa le foloseasca; eu nu reuseam. Eram stresat. Nu stiam cum sa invat pe cineva sa lucreze cu un aparat pe care eu nu il puteam folosi. Altfel, nu am mai predat fotografie din 1997, de cind am fost preparator la Academia de Teatru si Film, habar n-aveam de unde sa incep, cum si ce sa explic.
Raducanu mi-a recomandat 14 fete pe care le-am strins intr-o sala, le-am dat aparatele, acumulatorii de rezerva si cardurile si le-am spus ca ma intorc peste cinci zile sa vad ce fotografii au facut. Le-am spus ca vor fi admise la curs doar 6 dintre ele, cele care fac fotografii sincere. Le-am interzis sa folosesca blitul incorporat si zoom-ul digital.
Cind m-am intors, am colectat cardurile, le-am descarcat in laptop si am inceput sa aleg. Vedeam toti imaginile pe proiector. Cineva contoriza pe un caiet cite fotografii selectate avea fiecare: prima a fost admisa cu 27 de fotografii, iar ultima cu 7.
Am inceput intilnirile saptaminale. De la un curs la altul, studentele mele deveneau mai ambitioase, mai interesate si mai constiente de fotografiile pe care le faceau. In doua luni, au tras aproape 14.000 de imagini. Prima selectie am facut-o pe proiector, impreuna cu ele. Se bucurau de fiecare data cind vedeau ca apas tasta P (pick) pentru vreo fotografie la care tineau. La sfirsitul atelierului aveam 1.100 de imagini. Dintre acestea, le-am ales pe cele mai bune si au ramas 395. Din punctul meu de vedere, aceste 395 de fotografii pot sa stea oricind, fara nici un fel de jena, pe peretele oricarei galerii. Sint mult mai bune decit imaginile multor fotografi inchipuiti: sint sincere, inocente si proaspete. Nu-s lovite de rutina, de tehnicitate si nu se vede in ele placerea comuna de trigger-happy data de unealta de fotografiat. Pentru selectia din revista tiparita am mai facut un pas intermediar, unul de 64 de imagini. Dintre acestea mi-a fost cel mai greu sa aleg.
La final, le-am intrebat daca au invatat ceva. Mi-au raspuns ca au invatat sa nu foloseasca zoom-ul, sa puna 100 ISO la exterior si 1.600 ISO la interior si ca fiecare lucru din cadru conteaza. Mie-mi ajunge.
Atelier realizat cu sprijinul magazinului f64studio
Photography Workshop at Tirgsor Women's Prison
Photographers: Simona D., Stefania G., Klein T., Cosmo, Mariana Clipa, Y. Z.
The idea of a Photography Workshop was suggested by Miss Raducanu, head of the Reinstatement Department of Tirgsor Prison. It wasn’t a new idea, I had read about such workshops in an album of photographer Klavdij Sluban. I volunteered immediately. I added that the girls should be allowed with cameras in their cells throughout the course. I considered that I would get some cameras somehow. I called Marian Alecsiu, the owner of F64, a store with photo-video equipment, and I told him what I needed: some point and shoot cameras, cards, batteries and a two months loan.
I received six Canon PowerShot cameras that I took with me to Tirgsor in July. The cameras worried me, they had so many buttons and the technical book was so thick, that I had doubts in someone being able to use them; I, for one, wasn’t able to. I felt very nervous. I didn’t know how to teach someone to work with a device I wasn’t able to use. Plus, I hadn’t taught photography since 1997, when I was an assistant at the Theater and Film Academy. I had no idea how to start and what I should explain to them.
Raducanu recommended me 14 convicts. I gathered them in a room and I gave them the cameras, the spare batteries and the cards. I told them that I would be back in five days to see their pictures and select 6 girls. I said that I would only select for my course those who take sincere pictures. I forbid them to use the built-in flash and the digital zoom.
When I returned, I collected the cards, downloaded the pictures and started to select them. Everybody could see the images on a projector. I was counting on a piece of paper how many selected pictures the convicts had: the first one was admitted with 27 pictures and the last with seven.
I began the weekly meetings. From a course to another, my students became more ambitious, more interested and more aware of the photos they took. In two months they had shot about 14.000 images. I did the first selection on the projector, along with them. They were glad every time I pressed the “P” (pick) button for a picture they were attached to. At the end of the workshop I had a selection of 1.100 images. I chose the best ones and there had remained 395 images. From my point of view, these 395 photos can be exhibit anytime, without any embarrassment, on any gallery wall. These images are far better than many other pictures: they are honest, innocent and fresh. They don’t show any sign of routine, they are not cold or technical and they don’t let you see one’s trigger-happy pleasure a camera commonly gives. I made another step and I selected another 64 images out of the 395 in order to publish them in Punctum magazine. It was the most difficult to choose between them.
In the end, I asked the girls if they had learned anything. They answered that they had learned not to use the zoom, to use 100 ISO outside and 1.600 ISO inside and that every object within a frame was important. It was enough for me.
