Humble Arts interview
A Lunar Metaphor for Migration, Diaspora and Disorientation:
An Interview with Jon Feinstein
Feinstein: Your portraits fit into this discussion in an unexpected way – they feel like chapter markers, stand-ins for a universal feeling of cultural disorientation. I think less about who the people are and more about what they represent as figures amidst these dark, cold landscapes.
Mehrfar: I interviewed all of the people I photographed before and during our sessions. Through our conversations it became clear that regardless of our specific personal histories, we had all experienced a similar sense of loss in the wake of migration, and that we shared a common desire for belonging and community.
We spoke a lot about living in a limbo space. Picturing the people as a series of averted, subconscious gazes, became a way to survey these emotions. The individuals exist in parallel indeterminate backgrounds. We can think of them as both alone and together, located anywhere and everywhere. When viewed in sequence, they become abstract representations, a metaphor for a community not defined by borders.
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