I first noticed the work of
Annalisa Murri at the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset
House, London. She had come 3rd in the “Contemporary Issues” section
with a portfolio of images relating to the Rana Plaza tragedy in Savar,
Bangladesh when an 8-storey building collapsed, resulting in the deaths of over
1000 people. Murri had visited the area shortly before the first anniversary of
the tragedy and photographed survivors and relatives of those who had been
killed in the tragedy. She had then superimposed their portraits on settings in
different locations, which she believed visually represented her subjects’
feelings. The resultant double exposures, such as Images 1 and 2, were produced
in monochrome. Not only are they aesthetically appealing but they do indeed, to
this observer at least, portray a suitably bleak mood and atmosphere.
Image 1 (Annalisa Murri)
Image 2 (Annalisa Murri)
Why do the images work so well
for me? I suspect that it is a combination of the beautiful, ethereal faces of
the (mainly female) subjects and their relationship with an alien, yet
strangely familiar backdrop, the low key monochrome exposure, the link with
tragedy and the challenge of interpretation and connection that the images pose
for the viewer that gives them their quality. In particular, in Image 1 I find
the juxtaposition of the sharp, silhouetted figures amongst the rubble with the
ethereal forms of the female subject and out of focus man to the left of the
frame to be particularly effective. Each picture tells a story: perhaps it is
the same story, but told in different ways.
I think that these images show
the power of double exposures in documentary photography: a power that I try to
emulate in my own work. However, I have to question the morality behind this
work. What benefit does Murri’s project bring to the victims of the tragedy?
Perhaps there is no benefit to them, but the images (and accompanying text,
explaining the circumstances of the sitters) do at least remind us that the
pain, the loss and the grieving continue for survivors and relatives long after
a tragedy has occurred and those not affected have forgotten about it.
Not only does this work serve as
an inspiration for my own project work but also as a reminder of the moral
issues that underlie it. How can I produce portfolio images that are both
faithful and representative of the final years of my mother’s life: images that
will focus on her depression and yet form a poignant yet appropriate memorial
to her life? To complete the analogy with Murri’s work I am one of the survivors,
turning the camera on myself and questioning, amongst other things, whether I
could have done more to lessen the tragedy.
The photographic and moral issues
raised here are of fundamental importance to my major project.
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