During the COVID19 lockdown I've locked myself in my studio to see what would happen if the objects around me began to talk to me.
No thing-ness revolves around the gaze. The title refers to my work process: to me, objects become alive when they're captured by camera. When those images are put together, they collectively obtain a narrative. Images become frames into new worlds and introduce you to another form of life. Through photographs objects are no longer nothing and through these photographs a part of you and me is reflecting back at us.
Created in a time where freedom and happiness seemed far away bliss, this project heavily relied on my own playfulness, association, imagination and freedom to create.
"The look which the eye manifest, no matter what kind of eyes they are is a pure reference to myself. What I apprehend immediately when I hear the branches cracking behind me is not that there is someone there; it is that I am vulnerable, that I have a body which can be hurt, that I occupy a place and that I cannot in any case escape from the space in which I am without defense - in short, that I am seen (...) What does being seen mean to me?"
Sartre - On Being and Nothingness (Part 3 Chapter 1, p 258-259)
Designers of House TMM translated this idea into a publication that does not combine the images with a layer of graphic design, but rather let the photography do the talking. The photographs are displayed in their full form. No titles or names. No grids or unusual print techniques. Just the photographic edit in it’s full glory. The book is divided into two sections. The second of which displaying the photo’s as an archive or index, displaying their names and time of creation. This makes the book not only show a photographic project, but also the process that the photographer went through to create these works.
Publication
Photography: Joost Termeer
Design & Art Direction:
Format: 210mm x 290mm.
Edition: 125
Containing two parts of 88 pages (a total of 176 pages) The first part consist of glossy coated paper. The second part consists of uncoated paper.
The book has a plastic wrapping that is screen-printed and folded around the cover.
The publication is for sale for €50,- ex shipping. If you're interested, please contact me at info@joosttermeer.com.