CULTURE

Capturing dreams on the road

n exhibition featuring photography by Ivo Eman went on display recently at the Zoumboulakis Gallery in Kolonaki Square. Displayed with considerable distance between each image, the photographs seem as lonely as the people they depict. The Dutch photographer, who has been living in London the past few years, has a habit of embarking on long road trips by himself, with just his camera for company and an eccentric collection of objects in his backseat. Most of his photographs depict Eman himself, either holding or looking at a particular object, which immediately becomes the focus of the shot. The objects differ every time. With these lonely mise-en-scenes, the young Eman narrates stories of dreams – not those created by the subconscious but dreams in the sense of our expectations that never materialize – which is why the exhibition is titled «Expectations.» He describes them as the dreams we have for ourselves that never actually come true but that we seem to carry with us all the time. The man in Eman’s photographs encounters and examines objects such as a soccer ball, a paddle or a colorful balloon. Loneliness seems to be necessary in this encounter with dreams, because, according to the artist, dreams are personal. Simplicity The shots are almost always taken outdoors, away from what he calls the noisy urban landscapes that are full of symbols. The line of the horizon persistently divides his cloudy landscapes into two parts. The artist has said that he is drawn to abstract lines and that he tries to keep his landscapes simple, so that the main elements can come to the surface. Although he uses film, he says that he works on his photographs with a computer to remove anything that could be distracting. One of the works on display is notable in that it does not immediately appear to belong in the same category as the rest. Made up of numerous small photographs, the piece – his most recent work – show a sequence of a ballet dancer practicing her moves. Here, the dream symbolism lies in the movement itself instead of an object. The texture of the photographs tells the viewer that they have come from a video, something that Eman only uses in the early stages of his work and always with the eye of the photographer. Zoumboulakis Gallery, 20 Kolonaki Square, tel 210.360.8278. The exhibition runs to April 25 and can be visited 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays as well as 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

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