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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0-W0cFOBZY '''Diamond Matters by Kadir van Lohuizen''']
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[[File:LohuizenKadir DiamondsMatter.jpeg|thumbnail|Front cover with the fake diamond on the lower right]]
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'''Diamond Matters
[[File:Scan 7.jpeg|framed|left]]
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Hardback, part suede bound
I wanted to have a certain concept for the book, to create an “art object” instead of a book signifying art, an object of significance. I wanted to work with what I have, so after looking at the recent photos i took, i couldn’t find anything that I wanted to work on for this matter. so i went to look into my archive of iPhone photographs, a big dumpster of photos, screenshots, all sorts of videos, so its really like a parade of emotions. of course, after dealing with Olivia’s videos from when she was a puppy, i noticed the most obvious pattern that could serve a purpose.  
Dewi Lewis Publishing.
12cm x 11cm




Kadir van Lohuizen is a Dutch photographer who started out his career as a photojournalist. He's been known for his work on social issues, and has been deeply involved with the conflicts in Africa. He has won the De Zilveren Camera (The Silver Camera, a prestigious Dutch press photo award) four times, and also the Visa D'or and many others.  
Around 5 years ago, a close friend gave me a macro lens, and i loved the way i could see using it. probably, because it helped me get into the photographic world of the smaller beings, my favorites were always insects. Insects have a weird effect on us. They are nothing to be afraid of when we think rationally (excluding swarms & etc.) but it is so often that we can’t be rational, of course. Fairly, there is something eerie about these creatures, with their hairy legs and their alien looking features, they are hard to understand, and easy to detest. This attribute of these photographs excited me, as it provokes the viewer and unveils emotions.  


His book, Diamond Matters is a take on a diamond trade, and tells us the journey of a blood diamond from the beginning to the end. It starts with the miners in Africa, and ends with the jet set society in Europe.


I almost never hesitated of posting insect photos online, however disgusting they could be received as, but there were some photos that gave me second thoughts. Most of these photographs consisted of animal corpses. Admittedly, neither with the bugs nor the corpses, I was not chasing them, I wasn’t on a hunt of any sort besides the photographic hunt. It was mostly when I was walking Olivia on the shore that I was coming across these subjects. The shore is a habitat on its own, also is parallel to the road where cars race at night, results in roadkills that eventually end up on the soil.


The book is about the journey of a diamond through the industry, while it passes through the lives of the people who are in contact with it in any way. Starting with the mines in Africa, in countries that formerly suffered from the blood diamond trade and the war amongst the rebel forces that were feeding from this trade; we see both children and old people amongst the way, living in the mines, working for food, getting paid only if they find a carat. As we go deeper into the story we see all the aspects of the industry, like the mine owners, licensees, diamond offices, traders, cutters, cleaners etc.


The main deal of the book is the correlation between the story of the diamond, and the paper quality. As we turn the pages, the paper quality changes from rough to glossy. It contains five different types of papers. We can see the biggest difference when a diamond is found, and the pages become shinier, as we continue with the journey of the diamond towards the west, through the world of luxury.
My main drive in creation of this work was to question aesthetics of these images that can be considered as disgusting, provocative, disturbing, pleasing, intriguing; any feeling that can arise from the images, I’d say this book embraces it. The subjects of the images vary, but they all build up to a feeling. That is the fascination from the outside world, showing the neglected in the everyday, and question the value of a photograph, and what assigns this value.  


There is not a one particular way that all the photographs are placed on the pages of the book, some are aligned to left, some to right, sometimes images covering both pages and occasionally we bump into pages that are folded and which can be viewed as panoramic photographs depicting the environment to us. The only definitive choice is with the square photo format is used when it is accompanied by an excerpt from an interview.


We see only twice in the book this choice of putting a quote in the center of a page, taken from an interview, without any photos, that says:


<blockquote>"We work here in Chingulu mine, but we come from Dondo. We work seven days a week, but live here in the camp. They only give us food, but if anything is found, we get part of the proceeds. A week ago we found a carat."</blockquote>
Apart from all these aspects, I also considered this book as an object of abjection, or like a ritual where you throw up and defecate and feel cleansed afterwards. To support this idea aesthetically, I first thought of making my own paper from old newspapers and printing on them, however I was warned that the outcome paper would be too thin and therefore would be hard to work on, and while I was on search of a new paper I came across a perfect match in Van Beek; a recycled brownish paper with a really nice texture.
 
---
 
<blockquote>"Clients usually come by appointment. They rarely buy at once. They go away and think about it and then they come back."</blockquote>
 
This choice can be thought as a way of signfying opposing ends.
 
 
 
It is essential to remember that Van Lohuizen is a photojournalist, and his approach to this story is not only with photography but also with the interviews. This is a story about the diamond industry, which goes through the people who are in it.
 
I did not like the choice of the font that is used throughout the book. I understand that it was chosen in order to give the feeling of the texture of a diamond, but my thought is that it looks too digitized. A typewriter font, or a sans serif font could have suited it better.

Revision as of 20:02, 28 March 2019

transgross

I wanted to have a certain concept for the book, to create an “art object” instead of a book signifying art, an object of significance. I wanted to work with what I have, so after looking at the recent photos i took, i couldn’t find anything that I wanted to work on for this matter. so i went to look into my archive of iPhone photographs, a big dumpster of photos, screenshots, all sorts of videos, so its really like a parade of emotions. of course, after dealing with Olivia’s videos from when she was a puppy, i noticed the most obvious pattern that could serve a purpose.


Around 5 years ago, a close friend gave me a macro lens, and i loved the way i could see using it. probably, because it helped me get into the photographic world of the smaller beings, my favorites were always insects. Insects have a weird effect on us. They are nothing to be afraid of when we think rationally (excluding swarms & etc.) but it is so often that we can’t be rational, of course. Fairly, there is something eerie about these creatures, with their hairy legs and their alien looking features, they are hard to understand, and easy to detest. This attribute of these photographs excited me, as it provokes the viewer and unveils emotions.


I almost never hesitated of posting insect photos online, however disgusting they could be received as, but there were some photos that gave me second thoughts. Most of these photographs consisted of animal corpses. Admittedly, neither with the bugs nor the corpses, I was not chasing them, I wasn’t on a hunt of any sort besides the photographic hunt. It was mostly when I was walking Olivia on the shore that I was coming across these subjects. The shore is a habitat on its own, also is parallel to the road where cars race at night, results in roadkills that eventually end up on the soil.


My main drive in creation of this work was to question aesthetics of these images that can be considered as disgusting, provocative, disturbing, pleasing, intriguing; any feeling that can arise from the images, I’d say this book embraces it. The subjects of the images vary, but they all build up to a feeling. That is the fascination from the outside world, showing the neglected in the everyday, and question the value of a photograph, and what assigns this value.


Apart from all these aspects, I also considered this book as an object of abjection, or like a ritual where you throw up and defecate and feel cleansed afterwards. To support this idea aesthetically, I first thought of making my own paper from old newspapers and printing on them, however I was warned that the outcome paper would be too thin and therefore would be hard to work on, and while I was on search of a new paper I came across a perfect match in Van Beek; a recycled brownish paper with a really nice texture.