Tatiana Diakoff
On Photography and Image Making
“Photography as an art form presents the most persuasive illustration of the physical world and is often seen as the ultimate depiction of reality. Because of this, it is sometimes criticized as a non-art form because the image is
already there, all a photographer has to do is capture it. However, I’m interested in the idea that we, as visual creatures, have a huge repertoire of images and metaphorical archetypes stored inside our minds. A photographic image not only brings that iconographic form to the surface but it also points to something real, something tangible. I like to use photographic imagery as a visual language that ultimately leaves the viewer in charge of making personal and appropriate associations to their own reality.
My aim is not to replicate the world through the camera lens. Instead, I perceive myself as a collector and assembler of images. I use photography to capture pieces (or essences) of the world and incorporate them into my own creative imaginings, transforming their meaning in the process. The more abstracted images I create don’t always exist in our raw, unmediated perception of the world. Instead, they are photographically grounded in reality but amorphous in meaning, allowing a more poetic interpretation.
Light transferred onto film has the ability to re-create the visual essence of something, even if the image is de-contextualized, abstracted, or blurry. For me, this essence holds an indescribable beauty and experience of the world.”
Tatiana Diakoff, 2010
Contact Tatiana Diakoff at tmdiakoff@gmail.com
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