[...THE PRIMITIVE MAGIC OF PHOTOGRAPHY / THE PORTRAIT AS AN ATTEMPT TO INVENT AN ETERNITY... THE PEOPLE I DECIDE TO MEET & PHOTOGRAPH ARE OFTEN FROM TRADITIONAL CULTURES & THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE CAMERA IS VERY SPECIAL, FOR REASONS OF FAITH & SOCIAL ORIGINS... THEY HAVE HAD LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH PORTRAITURE & HAVE AN IMMENSE RESPECT FOR THE IMAGES. PICTURES OFTEN MARK IMPORTANT EVENTS— BIRTH, FIRST COMMUNION, MARRIAGE, & DEATH. PHOTOGRA- PHY STILL REMAINS FOR THEM A RITUAL IN WHICH ONE GIVES A LOT; IT TAKES THE SOUL ON THE ROAD. THEY HAVE LOOKED AT MY WORK VERY CAREFULLY, CONSIDERED & AGREED TO GIVE VERY SERIOUSLY TO THIS RITUAL. THEY THEN RECEIVE A SMALL ALBUM, A PORTFOLIO OF OUR MEETING THAT I PERSONALLY DELIVER IN GRATITUDE THAT GOES IN THE DRESSER DRAWER OR CABINET WITH OTHER ‘RELICS’ OR PHOTO- GRAPHS OF THE FAMILY. & I FIND IT VERY BEAUTIFUL, VERY TOUCHING AT A TIME WHEN PHOTOGRAPHY HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED ITS MEANING & PLACE.

DA VINCI SAID THAT THE FIRST PORTRAIT WAS BORN WHEN MAN HAS SEEN, BEEN MADE AWARE OF, HIS CONDITION & TRAVERSED THE CONTOURS OF HIS SHAD- OW ON A WALL. WHEN WE VISIT THE CAIRO MUSEUM, NAPLES, ATHENS... OR PLACES THAT HOLD WONDERFUL TREASURES & SECRETS, WHAT FASCINATES US BEYOND THE BEAUTY & MYSTERY IS THE PROXIMITY OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED SO LONG AGO & THE COMMUNION OF FEELING & THE COMMUNION OF HUMANITY SEPARATED BY SO MANY AGES. THE CIVILISED WORLD WAS FIRST A MESOPOTAMIAN CRADLE OF WRITING & THE MEDITERRANEAN— EGYPT, CRETE, GREECE, & ROME GIVE US THE FIRST GREAT PORTRAITS, THE FIRST ‘CIVILISED’ PERFORMANCES OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. THE BODY IS ‘TOO MUCH’ OF A REALITY THAT WE CAN’T ESCAPE... THE BODY, AS SAID BY PROUST & FOUCAULT, IS A PRISON IMPOSED ON US & ONE THAT WE TRY TO ES- CAPE OR TRANSFORM TO OUR WILL. THIS BODY— A BODY WITH WHICH WE PRESENT OURSELVES TO OTHERS & WE AWAKE WITH EVERY MORNING. THIS GRID OF WINDOWS IN THE FACE IN WHICH WE ARE TRAPPED! THE PORTRAIT IS IN SOME WAY A UTOPIA, AN IDEA THAT CAN ESCAPE FROM A REALITY IT CLAIMS TO REPRESENT. IT IDEALISES & SPEAKS MUCH BETTER OF WHAT IS TRAPPED INSIDE & CAN ONLY ESCAPE THROUGH THOUGHTS & DREAMS. BEYOND THE PERSON WHO IS REPRESENTED THERE IS THE IDEA OF COMMON HUMANITY THAT IS UNIVERSAL & TIMELESS.

IT IS BY THE FACE THAT WE MAKE CONSCIOUS THE HUMAN QUALITIES OF THE OTHER & THAT WE FIND OURSELVES IN ALL THE PORTRAITS OF GREAT CIVILI- SATIONS. IN OUR WORLD IT IS OFTEN A JUDEO-CHRISTIAN INTERCESSION OF GRACE & LOVE. THE FACE OF THE SAINT. THE KING OF REDEMPTION. THEN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION & SECULARISM. A CONSIDERATION OF THE SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGY, AN- THROPOLOGY, & SOCIOLOGY... THE PORTRAIT ARTIST ADDRESSES THESE ISSUES WITHOUT THE STATE; CONTEMPLATING THE OTHER, WE ARE AWARE OF OUR NATURE...]

/ EXCERPT FROM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN PIERRE GONNORD, MONIKA BIELSKYTE, & RUFUS KNIGHT. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER005 / SHE HAS NO STRINGS APOLLO