GUP - Alisa Resnik

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11/03/14 19:UP - Guide to Unique Photography

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Not a Metaphor: An Interview with Alisa Resnik

January 22, 2014 Author: Nora Uitterlinden Tags: Alisa Resnik Interviews

Alisa Resnik s (b. 1976, Russia) gloomy photos of dark interiors, people in bars and streets at night, havereceived a lot of attention recently. Her series One Another won the 2013 European Publishers Award forPhotography , and as a result was published simultaneously by the ve publishers supporting the award. OnChristmas Eve, Resnik made time to speak with GUP about loneliness, looking for the light in the dark and how that is not a metaphor.

Your photographic work takes place mostly at night in restaurants and bars, but you also work as awaitress. Do these two occupations inuence each other?

When you are a waiter, you are an observer. Its interesting to look at people. Just to see how a person moves:how does the person order, how does the person eat, how does the person relate to the waiter? People dontknow that you are an observer, theyre eating and drinking, theyre just relaxing. They dont know that theressomebody whos looking at them in a phenomenological way! (Laughs) Ive learned a lot about people whileworking as a waitress, and I use it in my photography.

Most of the photos in One Another were taken in Berlin, where youve lived since you were fourteen.Did photographing the city change your relation to it?

Yes, it brought the city closer I feel more like Im a part of Berlin now. I feel more accepted. And whenyou feel more accepted by the city, youll accept the city more. It all happens simultaneously, because ithappens in your own head anyway.
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What are the things that most often capture your attention while youre photographing?

Theres something formal Im interested in, which is a dark background and some light. This is what veryoften happens in my photos: some light in a dark place. But its not a metaphor for hope or something. Noteven unconsciously.

So you like it visually?

I like a little bit of light on an object or on a person in a dark place where you can barely see anything. I likepaintings a lot, baroque, Caravaggio and Renaissance art. But only while editing the book did I see theinuence of this in my own work.

Is there any other form of art that inspires you to make your work?

Music is incredibly important to me. While I photograph I always have music going in my earphones. And inthe bars where I photograph theres often music as well, so to me the two disciplines are very connected. The

intensity of the music inspires me to take pictures. I think I will never get this kind of intensity withphotography. But I can try.

Music is a little different though, since it continues well beyond a single moment as its playing. Or doyou think photography is capable of presenting more than a moment, too?

The book is what brings my photography closer to a piece of music, because its a series of photos. It becamepossible to bring tension in between the separate moments. This is why I like the book.


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How is photography able to transport feelings, you think?

Im interested in the constant separation between people. Theres something very scary about it. You cannever know whats going on inside the other person. But when Im in a shoot, theres a feeling that theressomething like a connection.

Does that connection between you and another person happen particularly during shoots?No, it can also happen when I drink with somebody. Photography is not the only way to get closer to people.(Laughs) But it works.

One of the reasons why I do photography is that, while I speak ve languages, Im not good in any of them. Iwas a teenager when I arrived in Berlin, so even my German is not perfect. I started photographing not such along time ago, around 2007. It was a time when I couldnt really move. It was great to have photography as atool that enabled me to go out at all.

But I honestly think that photography is just a small thing. If you talk about it, it easily becomes somethingpretentious. It isnt the main thing in the world. But whats so great about it, is that its a simple tool. And I

didnt stop using it once I had started.

What about the viewer? Since they arent part of the original connection during the shoot, what do yousuppose they get out of it?

Do you know this feeling when youve forgotten something, and suddenly you remember and you experiencethose forgotten feelings again? I think that photos can help people remember such old feelings, even if theviewer hasnt seen the photo before.


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Alisa Resniks monograph One Another is available for sale from Dewi Lewis (English) and Kehrer Verlag(German). Read our book review of One Another or view her earlier series Hoarse (which was also featured in GUP#33, The Stories Issue) in our online portfolio .

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