contrast between the words and the image. In the image/text balance I try to achieve the same thing Michel-Eugène Chevreul discusses in his simultaneous colour contrast theory, where colours mutually influence one another when juxtaposed. In my work, the text is presented as part of the work. Captions are framed. I appreciate the manner in which the two different objects affect each other, and create a complex sensation of attraction and repulsion.
the images using image-recognition software. I was moved by their shape. Examining them gave me the same sensation as flying the remote-controlled drone. I like the fact that the patterns extract themselves from the regular rectangular shapes, and that they are fragments similar to those we were already working on. They reflect the metonymy of the whole country and its history. There are layers upon layers. By taking an aerial
when things develop a symbolism. Oxymorons are my favorite figure of speech. Sharp-and-dull notions such as military intelligenceor creative destruction are essential to me to touch upon the com plexity of the world in which we live. As Emmanuel Castella my friend and assistant use to say ‘life is not a honey pot’. To what degree is making a political statement important to you? I’m political in the Ancient Greek understanding of the word. I am engaged as a citizen, but I’m not interested in politics as such. I’m not an ac tivist, but I feel concern about the rights of my alter-ego. Most of the time I don’t ac tually work with the victims, but with the people who fix or help them. I try to defend the victims and preserve their dignity.
foam magazine # 28 talent
‘By taking an aerial view I can play with the perspective of both the image and the country.’
For the project Ruins (Season 1), in which you show aerial photographs of archaeological sites in Afghanistan, you customized a drone for photographic purposes. How did this unusual project come about? I have an architect friend who has been working for the archaeological mission in Bactria, a northern province of Afghanistan, for the past five years. He kindly introduced me to his boss and we discussed how I might help the mission by recording sites. Working with archaeologists is another manifestation of my fascination with professions that look for hidden things. Archaeologists extract information from silent objects. In the past it would have been much more complicated to take a picture from the air, but today gaining access to open source material has become easy, I am particularly grateful for the energetic work of all the people who make this information available online. My drone was quick to set up and discrete. It was only when presenting the images at a conference that some of the members of the mission realized it had been an artistic project for me. For them it was just a useful way of making a record of the sites for future reference. The drone discovered the remains of what must have been a 2km-long aqueduct, that was previously thought to be only a trace of wall.
interview by Anne-Celine Jaeger
view I can play with the perspective of both the image and the country. Your work, as in Domestic Slavery and Antipersonnel is largely about contradictions. They play on the tension between violent acts and straightforward representation. How did that interest develop? I’m interested in the human condition. I realize that many of my projects speak about violence, but I feel there is a moral behind the violence explored. It’s not gratuitous. I’m not a collector. I simply present generic examples. The projects deal with tragic things, with human contradiction. Our condition is based on paradox. I think the issues raised are important. I like it
What is the most inspiring thing you saw or heard last year? Reading the book, Le Droit auVol by Felix Nadar, first published in 1860. The other thing that really amazed me was aYouTube video some teenagers did on how they sent an amateur camera into space with a gps, and recorded its journey until it crashed back to earth. They beat NASA with a £300 device. I’ve also been thinking a lot about fragility since the birth of my child this year. I really believe we have to develop the ability to appreciate our fragility and that of others. In these capitalist times, we are always taught to go for the maximum. But fragility is not a weakness. It’s something so precious, we must cultivate it. •
All Images © Raphaël Dallaporta Raphaël Dallaporta is the winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award 2011. Raphaël Dallaporta (1980, France) is a documentary photographer concerned with issues addressing human rights as well as less tangible subjects such as the fragility of life. For each project he works very closely with the professionals involved in his subject, a landmine clearer for Antipersonnel for example, a forensic pathologist for Fragile and most recently, archeologists for Ruins. Solo exhibitions include Protocole at Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, in 2010, Autopsy, curated by Kathy Ryan at the New York 2008 Photo Festival, and Antipersonnel, curated by Martin Parr at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2004. Raphaël Dallaporta is the winner of the 2010 Young Photographer ICP Infinity Award. Dallaporta’s work winning the Foam Paul Huf Award, is on show at Foam Amsterdam from 2nd September to 26th October 2011.
Your starting point for Ruins was a documentary, yet your approach as a photographer is conceptual and highly aesthetic. What would you like the viewer to gain from these images? Like the archaeologists, I assembled images that had a common point of reference. It was a very simple way of combining 76