The basis for creating a mise-en-scčne from the original source photos is to heighten the playful and fantastic inter-group dynamic while simultaneously generating an underlying disruption: the participants, while seeming present, also appear partly atomized in either a contrived pose or an uncertain gesture. Are they actively engaged in a playful, self-expressive inventiveness or are they constrained by a desire to simulate poses drawn from popular media and advertising?
v My aim is to capture moments and explore environments where subjects are caught negotiating these two poles–one of sweeping possibility and self-recreation, the other of handed-down poses and acquiescence to the constraints of overriding trends and fads.
Thinking about the medium of photography, I am interested in merging seemingly disparate strategies: the contingent approach of street work and staged work; openness to meaning “miraculously” happening in the frame and consciously seeking out specific moments to reflect on issues such as gaze, gesture, media, “pseudo-events”, received social behavior, class, etc.
Formally, I digitally compose candidly shot images. This method allows me to place several heightened moments into the frame in order to render the “believability” of the image ambiguous – aiming to suspend as well as encourage disbelief.
Mónika Sziládi