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Petar Dabac, Dnevnički zapisi, Zagreb 03. 04. 1992.
Ana Opalić talked to Petar Dabac for the occasion of his art exhibition at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana - where else but at the Buffet MK at Radićeva Street.
Could you divide your body of work into phases?
Well, maybe one could… because, now, looking back, there obviously were phases, although they were not created consciously as phases, it was more accidental, as a result of certain events and my reflections.
Especially of late.
Certain ideas would get a hold of me, and I would pursue them for awhile, and then I would start researching something else...different. Actually, this research was what I was always interested in.
Do you think we make photographs when we've had too much or too little of reality?
Too many or too few experiences?
I don't know... I feel that even the things change. Sometimes, in the first moment, I'm not sure myself why I took a certain photo. Later, when I review the film, and I magnify the photo, and I start exploring what it really means, what drew me to take it…all of the things I was not conscious of in the beginning of the process…as if things fall in place.
Like a missing link…
There is a significant difference in the "Photograms” or “On the road" series, and for example, “Diary Entries”.
How were Diary Entries created?
There was certain intent at the beginning, and later it developed into what it is now... I click literally everything which comes in front of my camera...almost everything I go through.
But the original idea was…when the war started in Croatia, I saw that all sorts of consequences would come out of it, and I just had the urge to record as many situations from my life, and the lives of people around me as possible. Who knows…maybe some things would need to be recorded, something that would later be lost.
PETAR DABAC, DIARY ENTRIES, ZAGREB 04.09. 1991.
Nobody knew. I was experiencing this parallel story, an intimate one, which lasted for many years, but for which I knew in advance, knowing myself and this person well…that it couldn‘t last for ever, and somehow, I had this maniacal urge to hold on to as much of it as I could, as another form of memory.
As a photographic image.
When these reasons somehow stopped, I was so preoccupied by this process of taking photographs in a diary manner that I took it as a principle. This is how I still work today.
So this has been going on since 1990.At the time I was interested in shooting places where I go out. These were bars in Zagreb which mostly all closed, or remodeled into some kind of luxury space (me and my friends would then stop going there immediately, and find new locations), until I finally ended up at the buffet MK .
This is where I've been developing a story which is not yet finished, but I can already say that it's a cycle, and it is called Buffet MK.
PETAR DABAC (RIGHT) AT THE BUFFET MK
Can you say that the Diary Entries are created from the feeling «prior to vanishing»?
Perhaps... Recently I started a new cycle, inspired by a graffiti which got me thinking. I saw a sign on Opatovina, which said "You painted in vain", and it was done on a freshly painted facade.
When the owner or this bar painted the wall, somebody sprayed this "title", the next day.
At first I was angry; I said “How dare they...", and then I started really liking it, as a kind of, a philosophical thought, really.
Somehow I tried to compare it to my own life and work, I mean... you work all your life, and then finally... what is the reason?
This is the “You painted in vain”.
Then I thought, this is going to be my third cycle, by which I will end my diary stories.
It's like...I've worked in photography so much. I've had enough, right…
During one of our conversations; you told me that the best you've ever read on photography was a couple of stories from the book The Little Prince?
Yes, the book Little Prince contains three things which are basic for photography.
What did the fox say to the little prince when they were parting?
“Only the heart sees well, truth is invisible to the eye”, which I think is a genius thought for photography.
Also... The little prince asks the pilot to draw him a sheep, and he is not satisfied with any of the drawings. This one is sick, this one has horns, this one is too old…until the pilot had enough and he drew a box with a few holes, and said: “This is a box. Inside is your sheep which you wanted so much”.
The little prince said: “This is exactly what I needed!”
So… imagination. Interpretation.
The third story, about taming of the fox, is for example, a story on how I've been taking photos around Zagreb bars all these years.
“You need to be very patient”, said the fox to the little prince. “First you need to sit away from me, and then closer and closer. Come each day at the same time.”
So, the same bar, the same time, the same waitress… and in time, people accept you. In time, you earn their trust.
After awhile, nobody thinks it's "funny" that I keep taking photographs. Nobody asks “why", anymore. Some people even come to me and say “C’mon Pero, take our photo…”
PETAR DABAC, DIARY ENTRIES, ZAGREB 04.09. 1991.
Can you answer the question - what is Photography in your life?
Not in my life, Photography is my life. Actually, I'm constantly in Photography. Photography has for me always represented freedom.
Ana Opalić
Zagreb, December 2009.
Could you divide your body of work into phases ? |
