BY STEVE BISSON
1. Tell us about your current photographic research?
I started as a documentary photographer but my work took a more introspective turn around 2006 when I started being interested in exploring the limitations of photography and how to exploit them creatively. During this period I was using photography to discuss the media of photography itself. Some of the projects I did back then are ‘What We don’t See’, ‘Almost’ and ‘360’. Then later in 2011, when I moved to Singapore, I found a renewed interest in documentary photography perhaps because living in this part of the world has sparked a new sense of curiosity in me and a wish to tell new stories through photography. At the moment I am working in a new project in Jakarta. This city is big and difficult to live in - one of the biggest megacities in the world. Jakarta relies on so many people to keep it running. It is such a big never-ending job, that is carried out in such a small scale, usually by manual, not mechanised labour. The working title is ‘Mapping Jakarta’ and I am trying to make sense of the city and its vast scale by looking at the small details in it.
2. Let’s talk about the project ‘Common Love’?
I often feel frustrated by the way some countries are perceived and understood by western culture and how this reflects in the strategies, methodologies and subject matter that some photographers choose when working in these countries. Much photography work has been done on Thailand but these projects are mainly related to issues concerning ancient traditions and architecture, Buddhism, tourism and also the sex industry. My personal interest, both when I am travelling and doing a photographic project, are closer to researching and visiting the areas of the city local people use and live in. This is not because I am interested in banality but because I am intrigued by the common settings that make cities what they are. Ultimately ‘Common Love’ is a project about a particular geography during a limited time frame, interpreted from a personal point of view.
3. How did you get the idea for the book?
I always saw ‘Common Love’ as a book. I enjoy producing something that will remain in a physical form. Exhibitions are a great way to show work at its best but they obviously are time limited. A book also creates a closer relationship between a photographer’s work and his/her audience. In fact, I am also into collecting the work of other photographers in book form for the same reasons.
4. It’s your second edition with the Velvet Cell. How did you choose the editor, how this new experience differentiate from the previous? How has your relationship with the publisher changed in time?
Éanna at the Velvet Cell approached me in 2013 with the idea of publishing ‘Close for Winter’ as a small book. Our working relationship was good during this first collaboration and when I finished producing ‘Common Love’, I proposed to him to publish it as a bigger book. I enjoy working with independent publishers because I feel I have more in common with them in the way they understand and relate to photography. In the case of The Velvet Cell, Éanna’s main concern is to produce a good quality finished product and so is mine.
5. What did your learn from this experience, plus and minus?
I learnt how difficult it is to edit work when making a book. I think I did about 10 versions of the book before I settled for the final one. When you have a limited amount of pages, you need to make difficult decisions. For example, I had a collection of portraits of young couples in the streets of Bangkok. As the project developed and took on a different direction, these portraits seemed more and more irrelevant. It took some time for me to realise this and Éanna was instrumental in me realising that these portraits were not needed.
6. Plans for the future?
To keep on living in Singapore and travel in the vicinity looking for more interesting ideas for projects.
7. Can you suggest us 3 photography books that you liked?
I like many books for different reasons both from established and independent publishers, too many to mention. What I find truly interesting is how small publishers are taking on a number of very interesting photographers and giving them a platform to publish. I am seeing truly interesting books published this way that would have been overlooked by big established publishing houses. It is very exciting times for photo books right now.
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Common Love
Isidro Ramirez
112 pp / 200 x 236 mm
Softcover with Gatefold
Section-Sewn, Colour Offset
ISBN 978-1-908889-26-3
Limited Edition of 500
July 2014