CAESURA the duration of a sigh


  • Photographer
    demetris koilalous
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    2015 2016

“Caesura” is a collection of photographs about the transitory state of refugees and migrants entering Greece,after crossing the Aegean Sea on their way to Europe. Typically “Caesura” manifests a silent pause in a verse or a musical phrase,here used as a metaphor for a break amid two loud,violent periods. Caesura’s characters stand before the camera in a state of transition and uncertainty, on the verge of name and anonymity, transmitting an ambiguous feeling of restlessness & tranquility, while the surrounding space remains reclusive and undisclosed. However,behind the stereotypical nameless mask of the ‘refugee’, Caesura’s characters are the new citizens of Europe who show their determination to place themselves in the new global reality and negate the anonymity of History. CAESURA does not attempt to provide answers or simply make a historic statement by exposing the human agony but it rather raises questions about human condition and identity.

Story

CAESURA is a collection of photographs which refers to the transitory state of refugees and migrants entering Greece, after crossing the Aegean Sea –the infamous Death Passage- in pursuit of a new life in Europe. Typically CAESURA manifests a brief silent pause in the middle of a poetic verse or a musical phrase, used in this context as a metaphor for the silent break during a distressed journey from destruction and despair to freedom and hope.
The characters of CAESURA appear to have a temporary identity as they stand in front of the camera in a state of transition and uncertainty, transmitting an ambiguous feeling of restlessness and tranquility; emanating a sense of intemporality and durability as if they have existed beyond time. They stand still on the verge of name and anonymity, almost suspending between two discontinuous moments. The surrounding space remains uncertain, reclusive and undisclosed -without distinct landmarks –yet at the same time it is an actual and relevant topographic context. It is a space “amidst”, caught in a transitory time “in-between”.
CAESURA is a collection of personal narratives and private moments of people who are caught in an intermediate and neutral space, pausing before they continue their journey. At the same time they build and shield those temporary microcosms, which they create en route as a mainstay of their identity and culture.
But behind the stereotypical nameless mask of the ‘refugee’, these are the portraits of the new European citizens bearing with them the melancholy of their past and the hardship of their route, while demonstrating a determination to place themselves in a new global reality and a commitment to negate the anonymity of History.
CAESURA does not attempt to provide answers or simply make a historic statement about this phenomenal mass exodus by exposing the human agony but it rather raises questions about human condition and identity.

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