Artist Statement – Ron Amir
My art relates the duality between a personal interest in political, social, and economic peripheries on the one hand, and the canonical, rigorous mechanisms of staged photography on the other hand. My photography attempts to bring together ethical directness with poetic and critical sensibilities. This double obligation turns the camera into a tool of social interaction that develops over time, rather than a tool which captures an image in an instant. My projects last between three to twelve years and primarily depend on collaboration with the communities that attract my camera.
The fundamental dichotomy of the photograph charges a “conflict zone” – a conflict between expensive equipment and poverty; between the saturated, rich picture and the poor, neglected existence; between myself as an artist (a kibbutz member from Northern Israel, coming from Ashkenazi-European background) and the subjects of my art – Palestinian illegal workers, African asylum seekers, youth of recent immigrant families, prisoners, groups that can be very creative in their constant struggle against institutional limitations. From this conflict all sorts of changes occur: I sometimes let others lead my camera and my interests, or I photograph them according to their demands, granting them my prints as a sort of retribution. And so photography becomes “part of the game”, inseparable of the daily routine of both my subjects and mine. Or we simply spend the time together, no plans on art or anything other than basic needs and the feeling of time passing, which could last years. This sort of practice demands not only patience and openness, but improvisation and risk – all are qualities I find at the heart of large-format analogue photography and its required labor, but also as the conditions for socially-engaged photography.