"There are all these old photos you can find around the Matsu village - some in the museum, some in the cafes and small shops used as decoration. You can see how the best ones were chosen, the ones that tell a story, the ones that are made well.
When we arrived to the residency, we were shown a room with some left-overs, things found in the village but not taken by anyone. I kept looking through those remains, especially some framed photos. All of them are ‘bad’ shots: smudged, angled, some of the frames are broken, some are covered in dust and some fungus.
Especially this one photo of a woman with a baby, caught in the doorway in a diagonal dynamic shot, has been stuck with me. It is haunting me - who is she, what is she thinking of, is she going in or going out, what is she dreaming of and what is she afraid of. And what do I know about her without knowing any information?
So I decided to take that portrait out and put into spotlight in the exhibition space. Give it some space and leave you, the viewer with it. Holding space for stories that are untold, complex and angled. I also invited my friends, with whom I have been in touch and sharing my impressions while in residency, to write a short response to that photograph. All of them are collected via the QR code. You can also add your own response to the image via that same link." - Alisa Oleva
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Find all the responses here.