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Almost photography

Almost the Photography

In Romanian, "compromise" has a particular intensity. There are compromises that are necessary, desirable, acceptable and there are also compromises that are impossible, impossible, and ugly. We live in a language in which notions, meanings, the meaning of words melt like cheese in a hot frying pan until they lose their dictionary definition. We live in a society seemingly so willing to give in, to give up, to abandon, and yet compromise has rather a negative meaning: something 'compromised' is irretrievably lost, damaged, irretrievable. Compromise rarely occurs as a result of mediation, as a result of a mutual understanding of each other's needs and interests. People seem very reluctant to feel their boundaries, to delineate their contours, to consider the priorities and needs of others. Every dilemma becomes the subject of a binary choice, every situation has to fit in our drawers GOOD or BAD, YES or NO. Nuance, negotiation, giving in don't seem to find their place. We don't give up opinion, we don't allow constructive amendment, we don't postpone conclusion.In short, declaratively, we don't compromise, though we compromise. In our turn we are scrutinized by our peers trenchantly and judged as such, we are either white or black. Gray seems excluded, though in nuance, in our ability to integrate difference lies humanity. "The devil is in the details."

Demonstration and march in Bucharest, on Magheru. At the head of the column marches a five-meter banner. At one point, a young man steps off the sidewalk and passes with folded hands prayerfully at the head of the column.

The young man looks like the sort of unwitting multitasker, his mind in two or even three lanterns. Nothing to do with the rally. The photo is OK and emphasizes the drama of the union action, it has context - the column in the back and emphasis - our man praying. In the explanatory text of the photo they write "A young man walks at the head of the column of unionists etc". So nobody is lying, neither the text nor the photo. Nothing is hand-written, nothing is false. I sent the photo, even though it was on the edge of compromise. On the edge of the incomplete truth told.

Read the full text in issue 6 / 2011 of Arhitectura magazine.

In Romanian, "compromise" has a special intensity. There are necessary , desirable, acceptable compromises and there are also undone, impossible, smelly compromises. We live in a language in which concepts, the significance, the meaning of words melt like a cheese in a hot pan until losing the dictionary definition. We live in a society seemingly so willing to give up, surrender, abandon, yet compromise is rather negative.One "compromised" thing is irretrievably lost, damaged, unrecoverable. Compromise rarely occurs as a result of mediation, as a result of mutual understanding of needs and interests of the Other. People don't seem very available to reach their boundaries, to define the contours, considering the priorities and needs of others. Any dilemma is the subject of a binary choice, any situation must fit in our good or bad drawers, yes or no. Tones, negotiation, release do not seem to find the place. We don't give up the opinion, we don't allow constructive amendment, we don't postpone the conclusion.Shortly and declaratively speaking, we don't do compromises, although we compromise. In return, we are investigated tranchantly by people and judged as such, either white or black. Grays seem excluded, although the tone in our ability to integrate the difference is humanity. "The devil is in the details."

Demonstration and march in Bucharest, on Magheru. A banner of five meters is leading the parade. At a certain moment, a young man emerges from the sidewalk and goes with clasped hands to pray, at the head of the column.

The young man seems to be kind of multitasking, against his will, and with his mind so far away. Unrelated to the meeting. The picture is OK and emphasizes the union's dramatic approach, it has a context - the column back - and focus - our man who prays. I write the explanatory text of the picture: "A young man walks ahead of the unionists' column etc.". Therefore, nobody's lying, neither the text nor the picture. Nothing is made by hand, nothing is fake. I sent the picture, although it was on the edge of compromise. On the edge of incomplete truth told.

Read the full text in the print magazine.