Jingfeng's proposal for a project that may or may not be made
What will it be?
Rotterdam Syndrome A collective of photos, all about Rotterdam and its suburban places. Using my past and new experience on photography to describe the feeling of living here. Not sure about any specific topic, or just general description. Why do you want to make it?
Why do you want to make it?
Photography is the most familiar media for me, I can use it to make some images about the object places. I may have some personal perspective about this place, there can be some chances to create new images.
How it would be made:
Stages:
1.To get familiar with this city, hang around, look for interesting landscapes. (Every spare days)
2.Find out if there is any certain topics, then decide whether to separate them into different projects.
3.Maybe I can try some new methods like analog, large format.
4.To see if I can edit the photos into an album. (Photobook design, editing)
Notes:
You can describe the style of the photo's you want to make. you can explain your personal motive on why you what to photograph Rotterdam. what is the feeling behind it? Wha do you want to get out of it or achieve with it? Do you want the viewer to get something specific out of it? How will you go about making the photobook? Mention more detailed stages.
Amendments
What will it be?
Rotterdam Syndrome
A collective of photos, all about Rotterdam and its suburban places. Using my past and new experience on photography to describe the feeling of living here. The style of shooting is not decided yet, I prefer to find it out during the process. Not sure about any specific topic, or just general description.
Why do you want to make it?
I may have some personal perspective about this place, because I don’t have much experience living abroad, Rotterdam is the first foreign city I will live for a long time, I want to find some connection between it and myself, through my eyes and paces. Then maybe I can know myself and the city better, and the most important part, similar with my previous works, is to look at the gap of modernity here, and to express my perception about it through images.
How it would be made:
Stages:
1.To get familiar with this city, hang around, look for interesting landscapes and communities. (Every spare days)
2.Find out if there is any certain topics I interested in, then decide whether to separate them into different projects.
3.Maybe I can try some new methods like analog, large format during the process.
4.See if I can edit the photos into an album, but the outcome depends on the process of shooting. (Photobook design, editing)
Questions:
What is the connection between me and the world? Why do I interested in realistic landscapes, like old streets, buildings, villages? Why do I always relate with my parents? Do I have more sense on painful experience? What is my voice on Chinese politics? I have experienced a lot of discussions but now seems have nothing to say. Am I a tourist in Europe? What makes a person "tourist"? Is there deeper theory related to my work method? (Like "At the Edges of Sleep") What is the difference between me and other Asian creators? Can I invent some new visual methodologies? Or some combinations with sound? What does it mean to me to move to another country? What does it mean to stay home?
In my new work, I want to explore if there is a way to visualize my feeling about leaving home and living in Europe.
What is home? We often talk about “leaving home”, seems it’s a new chapter of life, or a very big change. But what does it mean to be “staying home”? Home is somewhere we eat, pee, sleep everyday, that means we are very familiar with it, and having a sense of secure in it. But what’s more? Is home the meals, smell of pillows, or the scratches on walls? If so, can we repeat or recall them by some means? Or, can we build a new home through them? Then, a new home can be signals from relatives, or just their projections by sounds, objectives, shadows, etc. Then home is not some certain room, it can be transferred into some connections between the whole family.
Dream is also a way for people to connect with their important ones, at least from a single direction. There is also a connection between dream and cinema: you dive into a dark space to watch some images. It’s a interesting aspect on sleep and dream, refers to At the Edges of Sleep.
The living experience in a new place means you need to do many new things, like living totally alone, cooking everyday, building your own circle, finding a job in restaurant. There are things to explore/visualize during the process, although I have not figured them out. And specifically there may be some objectives and stories to document with.
For my EYE project, I’m trying to combine modern real life with my abstract figure through some concrete phone call scene and dreamlike walking ghosts on the streets. There will be dialogue or monologue, with some daily talking through the phone. But I don’t want them to be real daily, I hope there will be metaphors hid behind. As an outcome, the short film will not become a narrativized story, but a little bit abstract with some atmosphere.