Foreign Place
The collaborative book projectby Ladio Bodik and WanderBlack offers a fusion of fine art photography andpoetry delving into the hidden corners of present-day existence. Both authors’meticulous selections of photographs and poems from „foreign places“ spans over14 years of their work.
“I do not seek. I find.” - Picasso
The words from the quote - simple yet profound - suggest a solid framing for the collaborative book project “Foreign Places” where a photographer and a poet join their tranquil forces to convey their take on capturing the essence of what it means to be here.
The creators’ way of working is slow – the images and poems were collected over the course of 14 years; their encounter coincidental – if one believes in coincidences; their quest-prints compatible and complementary.Through their work, together – as two autonomous authors for whom the revolutionary year of 1989 within the European scenario bears a significant meaning and suggests a link to their present freedoms – they attempt to create a dialog for the soul in need of one in the present era of the screen.
Both avid travellers, they work with the medium of ajourney. Engraved in their poetic work are photographic and textual images fromtheir journeys (a.k.a. snapshots of moments of elevated personal experiencethat they believe overlaps the personal element and reaches, and possiblyinforms, the storyscapes of others). The images evoke the sense of a localplace, nostalgia, philosophical concepts, and being-thereness.
The authors did not seek one another out - they found each other during their journeying through “foreign places” that through being present and attentive become familiar. It goes without saying it is the authors' sincere wish for the readers to find their own familiar places in the contents of the book that may feel foreign at first.
