The Art of Disappearing
By Harry Fisch
“There is, of course, a personal and direct involvement in the places that I later depict but(and) my artistic practice involves researching into historical archives looking for testimonials from other visitors, narratives, legal documentation, media that is deconstructed in order to re-build another reality that is linked to visual emotions and the narrative of images, objects, and graphics.”
-Harry Fisch
The Art of Disappearing tries to bring awareness of the languid evanescence of the Arbore tribe in Ethiopia, where their last 2,300 members are currently living. Modernizing roads and easier access for visitors are changing their way of life. Cultural disappearance is brought about by changes in the traditional way of life, from the means of transportation to the pollution of modern lifestyles.
In the classical proposal, indigenous people are usually the topic of discussion, but rarely do they have a hand in shaping it. The Arbore are being relocated. My goal is to delve into the other side of the mirror, to try to understand what it reflects and how we are interpreted by “the other” when he switches from being observed to being an observer.
“I started the first photographs of this series in 2015 and returned two years later to that same tribe to continue with it. Before and after, I have been visiting different tribes. Initially, it was mainly an aesthetic interest -the Arbore are people of a balanced beauty- and their way of life began to attract my attention. Some conversations through a translator made that first curiosity turn into a cultural interest and, after some research, into a desire to share what I have seen and, even more, what I would like to see there in the future.
My approach to photography is not that of a documentary photographer. I don’t feel or need to be bound by a strict “realistic” narrative (if there is such a thing in photography). I am driven by the imprint of the moment, by my perceptions more than by the documentation of facts.
“I am bound to follow this path since I can’t escape my reality: I travel around the world and often as a witness of seemingly diametrically opposed realities to that of everyday western life. I enjoy playful, interdisciplinary proposals. I believe more in a discreet ironic charm than in generating a response through irritated proposals. As far as I’m concerned, I’m tired and bored of shouting, protests, posters, and noises. Docu-fiction in itself holds an interest for me as an instrument for the introduction to a story. I am more interested in winning the attention of the reader, spectator, or viewer and gradually -and lightly- leading him into the story as I want to portray it. “
“Cultural disappearance is brought about by changes in the traditional way of life, from the means of transportation to the pollution of modern lifestyles.” -Harry Fisch
Harry Fisch
Harry Fisch has traveled incessantly, in the last fifteen years, to exotic destinations seeking to understand how a certain promiscuity, a complacency between the photographed and the photographer appears, even living in such distant worlds.
His transversal professional background has led him to combine over the years his passion for photography with that of entrepreneurship combined with forays into psychoanalysis studies to finally, and in later years, devote himself entirely and with full dedication to the world of photography.
His interest in photography seems always intertwined with that of other worlds and other lives. Always concerned with local people’s struggle to preserve their cultural identities in the midst of local mainstream pressure.
Follower of Bauridllard’s line of thought when he noted:
“…and rather than seeking out the identity beneath the mask, one should Seek out the mask beneath the identity.”
Without the constraints of a realistic narrative, he appreciates multidisciplinary concepts that are guided by perceptions rather than precise verification of facts.
He finds himself constantly constructing images that match our preconceived notions, only to discover that they are not what they may seem to be, but rather what we want them to be to satisfy our romantic expectations.
His work has been recognized by IPA, Lens Culture, Photolucida Critical Mass, Photo España, and Tokyo International Foto Awards, among many others.
