Thoughts - reflexions ...

Since the last show where I exhibited a series of my "self-portraits in mirrors" and since the interview with Claire, I have been thinking about one important aspect in them : the fact that the main subject is not ME, but the mirror/reflecting surface. When taking the picture, in the reality, the camera takes the picture of the mirror itself.

I think that, for me, one of the most important idea in the questions Claire asked me is this one :
CT – so it’s the actual process of looking that you are trying to emphasise thorough the use of the mirror?

CSD – yes. I’m trying to understand something that cannot be understood.

And this is bringing me back to the residency "Eyes, windows to the soul" I did in 2010, which was following a period of research. Studying the process of vision, on different levels and trying to draw parallels between the physical and the psychological (or rather spiritual) aspects of vision ...
The physical particularities of the shop where I was working both helped me to emphasize some sides of this but also made it even more complex at the same time.

Projection installation where a photograph of outside of the shop

 is projected inside it.

Photograph through a window showing the indoor market

while a reflection is showing the window

and sky from inside the shop to the outside
To me, there is a direct link, from these images/installations to some of my most recent self-portraits.

A couple of nights ago, I also dreamed that I was by a wide container with water and that I understood that the next step was supposed to start taking pictures from under the water ... This lead me to take new types of images :