SEIZURES

Seizures

The idea for this project emerged from my frequent encounters with the almost infinite number of police seizures shown daily in the press. If, on one hand, it is a world distinct from my mundane lifestyle, on the other, the overwhelming presence of these oppressive facts on a daily basis makes it impossible for me to be indifferent to them. What’s more, in being routinely exposed to these issues, we end up taking them for granted. They have ceased to shock us. This is precisely where the paradox of the excess of information lies: the more we see, the less we perceive. We get used to things, we are “blinded by seeing too much.” The idea that these images own a great deal of richness in their details is based on these presumptions - In redefining the seized equipment through photographs of “assemblages” of these objects and enlarging them in formats and sizes that are unusual when dealing with this subject, I intend to highlight the most obscure aspects of these trending and daily publications.

The means I undertook to achieve this inventory of a Brazilian tragedy were enduring and complicated. The technical apparatus I used to accentuate the details of what we see everyday without any manipulations – as it should be, complying with journalistic principles – was very new to me. In any case, I came across it as I searched for a method that would substitute the traditional analog techniques and that would provide me with a certain agility on set and in post-production. For most of the photographs I used a digital technique that fragmented the extensive scene when capturing the image so that the final copy could reach a high definition. However, this technique was not possible for the photos involving animals because of their movements.

At last an assignment: to negotiate with the authorities and to find a way to make these images seen as they are, as I see them myself and not to prove something and especially not as a commentary related to the state’s uselessness or efficiency. Instead, seen through an artistic and personal vision of relevant quotidian facts and as a portrait of a certain Brazil. Apart from the inevitable difficulties connected to this project, dealing with the intricacies of these acquisitions was an unique and pleasurable adventure. During this experience I met with judges, policemen, auditors and secretaries of state, who were very helpful and extremely cooperative. I obviously encountered many obstacles during this journey, justifiable due to the seriousness of the subject. Nevertheless, as I leaped into this quest, I was surprised with the result of Seizures: by the final enlargements’ huge diversity of formats and sizes - which were not foreseen in my plans but that ended up being constituent of this project - and by my encounter with scenes that were already in place, people and situations unusual to my universe.

These apprehensions affect us all and indeed, these images do not produce solutions to the social and legal questions underlying them. As follows, I do not have an answer to offer either, other than a form of apprehension.
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Bob Wolfenson