I was doing some research for a story, and accidentally found this series of soviet cats illustrations. I didn’t find the author or the idea behind them – if anyone know who he or she is, please get in touch – but the kitsch of it is captivating, so take a look.
Soviet Cats: Some Irony and Lots of Surprising Kitsch
To Sum It Up: October
This month I bought an obscene number of books, watched many docs and wrote for the latest issue of Modern Times. Below are just a few of the things I find interesting:
What Does ‘Achieving Your Potential’ Really Mean?
On a flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg last month, I watched two documentaries in a row. Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams) and Dancer (Steven Cantor) tell very different stories, one of a boy with autism, and the other about one of the greatest ballet dancers known to day. Yet they both made me reflect on the idea of success and what it means to overcome limitations – whether physical, emotional or circumstantial.
A World of Emotion and Essence: The Enchanted Art of Katherine Bradford
Truth is, I quite often find consolation in words and in art, and these days I’ve been in special need of both. Luckily, I found Katherine Bradford‘s work.
A woman’s love and fulfillment: Siberian Love (2016, Dir. Olga Delane)
What nature made and a keen eye can find: the hall of fame of stones with human faces
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2016: first day, first three films
After some busy and long months with a lot of things to do – stuff that keeps me away from enough sleep, mental space and also writing on this blog – I wasn’t really much looking forward to IDFA. More work sounds like a pain right now, but I think I temporarily forgot that IDFA is home. I arrived in Amsterdam today without much enthusiasm but once I dived in and got my press pass, a very familiar feeling I get every time I come to the festival kicked in and stayed: I want to see everything!
Leninopad: where did all the Lenin statues go?
I don’t remember Romania’s Lenin statues. I was too young to remember. But I do remember streets that had his name. The statues quickly disappeared after the revolution, and the names of the streets changed as well. To me, this getting rid of symbols was and still is fascinating. It is as if someone has been moved out of the apartment, throwing away all his stuff, which include personal items in the form of photos and statues, and his name on the door bell. Making these things disappear is the supreme post-regime clean-up and makes you realize just how deeply involved into the fabric of everything the regime really was. It took Ukraine a long time and some scandals around it, but here is Niels Ackermann’s photo series documenting where the ‘Lenin-toys’ go.
The Kitsch Update: Christina Rosen and her amazing ceramic dogs
This simple feeling of comfort: the art of Frances Baruch
I cannot remember what I was searching for when I came across Frances Baruch‘s work. What I remember is this feeling of comfort I had looking at the pictures of her gentleness-inspiring ceramic work of people and animals. It was that feeling I sometimes have when I discover something that resonates with me and that feels…’true’.
Myth or Reality: The Dream of Escaping the City
Every now and then I take a step out of myself and look at my life. Every now and then I reflect on what it is that I’d like to be different. And every now and then I miss the smell of fresh laundry when you bring it from the outside during the day, and the comforting feel that slow early mornings have for me. And every now and then, especially then, when I feel nostalgic for slow paced days, I daydream about moving out of the city.
SPOTLIGHT: Tuffi the Elephant and Her 1950 Train Jump
Old Passepartout, New Passepartout and a Trip in Between
Dear friends,
After thinking long and hard about the changes I want to make to Passepartout, I finally reached some conclusions. Starting June 2016 you can expect some new sections on the blog: a monthly interview, stories behind photos you might or might not know, more in-depth look into photo themes and also a monthly ‘Best of’ with everything good I spot around the web each month.
Meanwhile, May will be a month of rest, and Passepartout takes some time off because I will be on a trip to Thailand and Myanmar to recharge and explore.
But let’s not lose touch. Please subscribe Passepartout’s feed & newsletter.
See you all in June,
Bianca-Olivia
Movies That Matter Festival: Chuck Norris vs Communism and What I Remembered
The first film I remember watching – ever – was one in which the main character is a guy dressed in white. Somehow I believe it was Alain Delon but I’m not sure what makes me believe that. And what happens is that he dies in some sort of corrida arena, not killed by a bull but by someone, someone evil. I don’t remember most of the concrete details, as you can see. What I remember is the strong impact the scene had on me, it felt like something I had to think about and I did think about it for a while. I was probably 4 or 5, film ratings were non-existent back then and and my parents, like many Romanian parents at that time, were watching films in secret, illegally smuggled into the country.
Less Than a Week Left to the Oscars: If You’re Hoping ‘Amy’ Wins, It Probably Means You Didn’t Watch the Other Films
17th Century Dutch Humor and What Hid Behind an Apparently Inoffensive Bush
The truth always prevails my dears, that’s what I have to tell you! They tried to cover it up in this 1643 Isack van Ostade’s A Village Fair with a Church Behind painting, and they painted a bush on top of it. But 100 years later, curators spotted the fake, took it off, and revealed the true “artist’s intentions”: a pooper with a dog looking at him. In 1903 when the bush was painted on top of this shameless little fellow, it seemed more appropriate to go about doing such business in a bush I guess. But in the 16th and 17th century this kind of potty jokes in art were apparently quite popular. You don’t have to be a high-brow art lover to appreciate old Dutch paintings, you can also be a ‘Where is Wally?‘ fan and spot for the twist behind them.
IDFA 2015: Some Documentaries You Might Want to See // Part II
People often ask me what recent documentaries I’ve seen and what I recommend them to see. When they ask me that, my first question to them is what are you looking for? What interests you in general and what kind of stories do you like? Personally, I have an interest in what’s new in general in the documentary world, what’s fresh from the oven and what’s different. But of course, I also have my specific interests in certain subjects. But beyond personal preferences of different kinds, I do think there are films that go beyond their particular circumstances to reach something universal. Something that’s important for all of us and something that we can all relate to. Those films are often unforgettable and these three films I’ve seen at last edition of IDFA are of this particular ‘breed’.
IDFA 2015: Some Documentaries You Might Want to See // Part I
I’m starting to worry that Christmas will come and pass, we will enter 2016, half of it will be gone…and all the things I have to say about the docs I’ve recently seen will remain unsaid. So this week I’ll take some time to write about these films. Because there is one thing I do every November and I did it this November too. That is going to the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, which is my yearly treat of good docs, fresh from the oven.
Painterly Peeks: Photos Capturing the Lives of Photographer Arne Svenson’s Unaware Neighbors
Apparently, New York photographer Arne Svenson inherited a 500 mm lens from a friend who was passionate about bird-watching. Svenson didn’t know much about birds but he put the lens to good use, taking these really beautiful pictures of his Manhattan neighbors. The neighbors weren’t as excited about the photos as I am, so guess what they did, not rocket science, they sued him. And he won. It was 2013 and a court decided that what he did – taking the photos and then exhibiting them in a nearby gallery – was something defensible under the First Amendament’s guarantee of free speech and the photos needed no consent to be made or to be sold. That’s good to know. I accidentally found this story and these amazing photos some days ago, when I started doing research for a photo project I want to pursue, a project for which I was wondering where’s the line between public and private.
It’s all happening! Spotlight : Romania is a showcase for the real photo stories that make contemporary Romania interesting
Here is my big excuse for neglecting you and Passepartout for so long. It’s all happening now, not even a hurricane can stay in its way. The Spotlight:Romania exhibition I curated will be on from the 3rd of October until the 8th of November in Gemak, in The Hague. It is the biggest exhibition of Romanian photography The Netherlands has ever seen, and a selection of 8 photographers and 8 photo series that tell Romanian stories. They all have a bit of everything I know, love and miss from the country, and that I think the world should see. And yes, important: the exhibition is part of Spotlight:Romania. A Film and Photography Festival me and Corina Burlacu have been baking for a while now.
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