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T he photo project I’m doing with director Jan Fabre’s theatre show Mount Olym- pus led me to New York. My goal was to feel it, to traverse it without any kind of guide, without plans and guidelines. I was simply interested in feeling that other side. I went out on- to the streets every day and tried to feel, from my own perspective, what’s di erent about that city. I wanted to shoot photos from early morning un- til seven in the evening, and then to just sit and observe the city. The most interesting buildings to me were those that represent some kind of fascination. They appeared very cold and slightly scary, but when the sun came out they turned into re ec- tors of light. Like in a theatre. A fascinating dance of light played out with the people on the streets. And they were closed, each telling their own sto- ry, imprisoned in their own world. Because this is still a city that o ers enormous opportunities, but can also swallow you whole. I actually experienced New York like two cit- ies – upper and lower. The upper that represents the life that plays out around us, but also the other one in the subway, which was the most interesting to me as a city and a life for itself. That’s something that I could only see in lms, where everything is allowed and no one pays any attention. I could take pictures of whoever I wanted, as they’re ac- customed to the presence of a camera. And per- haps the biggest impression was nevertheless left on me by Times Square, where I made a full face- to-face encounter with today’s times and culture. I was surrounded by screens and people for whom it was more important to have their picture tak- en than to be present. Those screens around and above me caused some kind of sorrow in me. I actually felt as though I’d fallen into some video game. I was in the centre of the world, in the mid- dle of collective unconsciousness. And still people’s openness to communicate and towards foreigners accompanied me every- where. I entered wherever I wanted and was wel- come everywhere. The city gave itself to me like a huge theatre stage where life plays out and the show runs for 24 hours. Behind every corner some frame awaited me, free for me to record, and I had the privilege of being able to do precisely that – invisible to the New Yorkers, drawing borders be- tween light and dark, seeking diagonals and parallel shadows of the city, documenting the innumera- ble stories of eternal bit-part characters. I momen- tarily became a true New Yorker – invisible...
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jelena Janković is a ne art photogra- pher from Belgrade whose work has been awarded internationally on multiple oc- casions. She recently travelled to New York as part of a photo project that she’s working on, utilising the days she spent in the city to record and relay the life of its streets through her photography. She has been engaged in theatre and dance pho- tography for years. For the last three years she’s been photographing Serbia’s KOLO ensemble of folk dance and song and is an associate of the Belgrade International Theatre Festival, BITEF. You can check out Jelena’s works on Instagram and by visit- ing her website.
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