everyday

The power of the everyday
Surrealism in art and photography has nowadays a more forgiving definition. In the early stages of surrealism perceptions were mostly limited to paintings, as the medium can contextualize interpretation of dreams, fantasies and other realities of fictional nature. Artist like René Magritte or Man Ray have a major influence on surrealism in photography. A surrealist approach in photography might seem controversial, because of the cameras nature that records reality. Though the choice of perspective, the variety of manipulation in postproduction and the range of subject provide latitude in the matter of surrealism.

We are surrounded by systems and we take part in them. Dealing with the everyday it is possible to lose the overview of everything as one big system. Man hardly sees the world as a whole and even an astronauts view could be discussed as one sided. The total overview or control seems impossible, as the constantly expanding volume of information is enormous. The thought that we are controlling our own lives is in regard to our social circumstances limited. Total freedom therefore seems surreal as it can only be achieved in the mind.
Who or what is in control then? In the everyday of the 21st century life is controlled by three major systems:

1. Religion
2. Politics
3. the Media

To find possible answers in the power of the everyday a direct reference to philosophy can be established. Poems and other philosophical lyrics contain thesis and theories to explain our being. My work uses following quotations to create a basis for the pieces in the style of juxtaposition with my personal photographic material:

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite.” William Blake

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself; the masses have to be won by propaganda.”
Hannah Arendt

By Jens Poloczek