Submission

AWAY, MAKING A HOME

I began this project after I moved from my home country to the Netherlands. In an attempt to familiarise myself with local ways of being, I take documentary photos. I am hunting for people and places to nest into. As Susan Sontag wrote, “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.” I try to colonise people's hearts by putting them in my frame. But, during the process, I learn I'm dealing with self-delusion. No matter how many photos I take, I am still a foreigner. I only make myself feel more at ease, but I stay equally alone. By photographing, I'm not partaking in the happening. I am seeing, but am unseen.


https://barbararadelja.com/away-making-a-home-menu

AWAY, MAKING A HOME

I began this project after I moved from my home country to the Netherlands. In an attempt to familiarise myself with local ways of being, I take documentary photos. I am hunting for people and places to nest into. As Susan Sontag wrote, “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.” I try to colonise people’s hearts by putting them in my frame. But, during the process, I learn I’m dealing with self-delusion. No matter how many photos I take, I am still a foreigner. I only make myself feel more at ease, but I stay equally alone. By photographing, I’m not partaking in the happening. I am seeing, but am unseen.