Ektopia

Regulars here will have already worked out that I’m not known for being overtly political. I distance myself from world news because I’m not very good at handling the depressing state of the world’s events and feel helpless much of the time. I also like to keep the spirit light on Ektopia. It’s partly because that’s how I like to see this website and partly antidotal to my pessimistic side. However, every so often, something political really stands out for me. It’s normally because someone has brought something to my attention that’s been going on for ages that I’ve not heard about due to having my head stuck in the sand. Bansy’s trip to paint on the Israeli West Bank barrier was one story and, more recently, French photographer and artist JR and his cohort Marco, also visited to create a huge project in an effort to unite those on either side of the wall.

The security fence (as the Israelis call it) or the racial segregation wall (as the Palestinians know it) is a growing project itself. The Israeli government have been building the wall since 2002 and the wall will eventually be more than 700km in length. At the moment, much of the wall is made of multi-layered fencing but this is being replaced by 8 metre tall concrete slabs. These slabs are interwoven with checkpoints so that the Israeli’s can monitor the movement of people in and out of their country. Palestinian land has been taken during the building of the wall and homes and shops have been destroyed. The wall even runs in front of some Palestinians’ front doors! The Israelis believe the security fence is effective in minimising terrorist attacks and the Palestinians are, of course, opposed to the racial segregation wall for a whole host of reasons. From the side-lines, it seems like it’s a fairly one-sided argument but it would be crass of me to say that. I really just don’t have the intellect to fully understand the implication of the wall. What I do know is that when JR decided to take his unique photographic imagery to these walls, I knew I was going to love the results.

The Face2Face Project was born late in 2005 when JR and Marco travelled to the two cities. One thing that struck them was that the people on either side of the wall were fundamentally the same as one another. This is when they realised that if they could somehow communicate this to both sides they may be able to make the individuals realise this and in some way initiate some kind of change. In 2006, JR went about finding individuals on either side of the fence that had the same occupation to take fish-eye portrait photos. An Israeli student - a Palestinian Student. An Israeli security guard - a Palestinian Security guard. An Israeli taxi driver - a Palestinian taxi driver. An Israeli cook - a Palestinian cook… You get the idea, a broad range of people who were doing the same work independently of which side of the fence they were on. Each of these pairs were later (earlier this year) pasted up, on a huge scale, onto the security fence/racial segregation wall for everyone to see and also elsewhere in the opposing cities.

A few weeks back, Editions Alternatives, published a book dedicated to the Face2Face Project. It’s everything a book like this should be; large, in your face, informative, thought provoking and even humorous. What’s most amazing is what JR has managed to get from each of the models. Portrait photography is all about making the model feel comforatable and JR manages to do this so well that, even with the social difficulties that the Palestinian and Israeli people are going through, he manages to get them all laughing and pulling silly faces at for each other. Don’t forget the scale of these faces. JR pushes in so close with his fisheye lens that their faces are subtly contorted and really fill each poster. What immediately stands out is that with their relaxed demeanour you could be mistaken for thinking that they could so easily be people from the anywhere else in the world. Someone’s mother, father, brother, sister or friend. This shouldn’t make a difference should it but, for a middle class white boy from the UK, it’s hard for me to put these peoples’ difficulties into perspective. Feeling like they could be the person who lives next door (or even someone who I could easily bump into while freely moving around my country) brings that home to me. And that’s what they are isn’t it? People that live next door to each other. It’s not just the portraiture that makes this book so amazing though. JR’s spread his magic eye over the city too. Much of the cityscape photography in Face2Face isn’t what we’re used to seeing either. Many of these environment shots will remind many of us of urban decay photos rather than the bright-lighted city shots that we would associate with a big city. However, that suits my eyes just fine. I love this side of the book too. It’s a visual feast, on and off the portraits.

Another important aspect of the book is dedicated to allowing each model to have a say in what’s going on around them. Thankfully, the majority of these messages are simple and wishful - “I would like people to have their rights and to live in good conditions”, some of the comments are very deep and meaningful - “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift”, and other comments send chills - “We just want to live peacefully and spread peace, but if you don’t want peace, Fuck you”. For me, the most profound statement comes from Palestinian guide called Mars, “I am glad when we meet abroad with my Jewish brother. We talk about the same food, the same habitats. And when we come back, the conflict is still here”.

When Banksy painted on portions of the separation wall, I remember seeing a local Palestinian man (on the BBC news from the safety of my sofa!) complaining that Banksy was making the wall beautiful and that the Palestinians hated the wall and didn’t want it to look beautiful. I wonder what it’s really like there…on either side. Perhaps the Palestinians and the Israelis don’t like the portraits but I have a sneaking suspicion that they must do. I mean, how could you not like them. You can’t deny the humour in them as you couldn’t deny the message and the thought provocation. It all still leads me to wonder if this kind of project can make a difference. I guess that so long as people like JR & Marco are committed to helping out in the way that they feel is best (and also bringing the separation wall’s injustices to the public so that we discuss them) then maybe there’s a chance. All I know is that JR and Marco’s optimism is contagious. They really feel that they can elicit change on this huge scale and I guess that if they really feel that they can then maybe they really can. So, what’s left for the project. Well, the Face2Face documentary should be released sometime in September 2007. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s a beauty of a book as you’ll have guessed by now. The oversized aspect (23.5 x 33.5 cm) really helps to bring home the individual models’ characters and the 144 pages make for a great package. You can get a copyof Face2Face (ISBN : 978-286227-527-7) from Editions Alternatives or any of the other places linked to from their site. If I can find somewhere in the UK that stocks it I’ll let you know. Oh, and check out the making of video before you go.