Kamali/outline

Draft Presentation

Camera — Photo Book — Eye — 16mm — Self-Directed Research

What do I want to do next?

What / How / Why

Eye

Finding a way back into my own work

A lot of the time my work is about observing. Having a family that lives far away from me is one of the main subjects I deal with in my work.

The physical distance between them and me is something I draw much inspiration from. I find it very poetic in many ways, especially in times we’re living in now. (Technology enabling us to be closer than ever)

I look at them, I write them and I read their emails on a screen. I dream of them and I visit them in my mind. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult for me to put into words. It feels like I can be in two places at once and at the same time find myself not being present anywhere.

In the projects I’ve made, my role is quite passive. (For example, I made a film in which I look at small excerpts of video my dad sent me via WhatsApp. The screen is split into two or three moving images. One could be of a video that my dad sent me, the other would then be an image of me looking at that video on my phone.)

The spy cam was a way for me to take a more active role. I hadn’t made an image for quite some time. I went outside with my suitcase, with a camera hidden inside. Being distant, but physically present. There doesn’t have to be an ocean between people for them still to be distant and for me to observe and spy on them. This was a fun way of working out and rethinking an essential element in my work.

Although I haven’t worked this out to be more of a visual experiment, I was still challenged by it.