Acta Est

This is the first book by the emerging photographer-artist Lise Sarfati. Composed of images made during extended visits to Russia during the 1990s. It is neither travelogue nor photojournalistic essay. Rather, Sarfati uses descriptions of the details of the Russian environments which fascinate her to create a visual drama - a personal theatre of dysfunction and deterioration, of change and beauty. The title - literally "it (feminine) is over" from the Latin phrase "Acta Est Fabula" meaning "the play is over" - signals her insistence that the work not be read as journalism but as a work of theatrical imagination. She builds a disturbing Tarkovsky-esque world out of concrete historical fragments - for example the architecture and factories of Norilsk, a town in arctic Siberia built and occupied by political convicts - and peoples it with lost characters - young transvestites and teenage runaways interned in "re-education" camps. Why results is a body of beautiful, engaging and disturbing photographs which are both a historical record of Russia at the end of an era, and the poetry of a visual artist conjuring her own world.
ASIN: 0714839108
VSKU: BVV.0714839108.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Lise Sarfati|Olga Medvedkova
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.