THE MAGIC OF INHERITANCE
Hi there, Camelia Elias here, carrying the torch. When I inherited a Leica camera from 1963 from legendary historian and collector of esoteric art, K. Frank Jensen, I returned to the darkroom, an experience I never forgot after just one week in school when I was 10. In my 50s now, I think of the magic of silver and what I can do with it as a matter of stumbling into grace.
MY WORK PROCESS
I'm not interested in perfect pictures, forced and contrived through the manipulation of color and composition. I'm interested in chance and how it forms my darkroom processing. My mantra is this: 'If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't.' I want to see where a negative takes me, in whatever form it presents itself from the outset: as overexposed, underexposed, suffering from bromide drag, or scratches. I embrace it all, and value the place it takes me to.
BEING BESIDES MYSELF
Currently I'm working on a series of photographs under the heading BEING BESIDES MYSELF.
This work is inspired by a simple, yet powerful question that I encounter frequently in my work with divination and fortunetelling with cards: DOES HE LOVE ME? I want to apply this question from the heart to my eyes through the lens of my camera. I'm curious to see if I can capture in the silver halides some of the anxiety, longing, dreams, fears, and wishes that I see represented in oracular settings, when I fling the cards across the table to the lovers' astonishment.
When women ask my cards: 'Does he love me?' or when men ask my cards, 'does she love me?,' I often find that this question comes from a fascinating type of positioning. When people are besides themselves in love, they are also beyond time.
I have selected 33 gelatin silver prints to accompany written reflections on how an image can cast a spell on words intended to have a performative function. and how these words in turn can enchant an image. 30 pictures are based on my own negatives, and 3 are based on K. Frank Jensen's photography. The result is my book, Being Besides Myself, published by EyeCorner Press (June 2020). Hear me read a fragment aloud.
WHAT THEY SAY
Truly unique and intriguing. Beautifully haunting, magical photographs. A step onto the road less traveled in today's digital world. – CINDY GREGO, photographer
Camelia, I love them. The prints are beautiful. Thank you – AITZIE OLAECHEA, art collector
EXPLORE ON INSTAGRAM
