In childhood I believed that I could change the world. Then I have changed myself.
Once, my friend was trying to justify social indifference with an argument that a person’s belief system alters by the changes that come with growth: in childhood everyone believes that they will change the world. Then they believe that they can change their country. Time by time they think about the changes that can be done in their families. And at last the only hope that they are left with is to change themselves. In 2009 I bought a soviet camera Zenit E, with which I discovered that I could still change something. I have the feeling that with taking pictures I go through this process once again, but from the ending.
First stage: Myself
Painting, making beads, carpet weaving, embroidery, dancing, modeling clay - it's a small list of which I have tried my fate. But in photography I have found the realization of something that has been torturing me for so many years and couldn’t let me stay at one place. Photography has radically changed my life. Maybe it sounds pathetic, but it has really changed me for the better.
Second stage: Family
A photo has a very good way to make a person think about something, that maybe he/she was looking at everyday but couldn’t see. Before if I solved a problem with an argument, now I can just leave a photo on a table and invisibly disappear. At some point, thanks to photography, my brother isn’t anymore homophobic towards sexual minorities.
Third stage: The Country
One year ago, I participated in one project called “Youth Peace Express”. The goal of this project was to alleviate the situation between the two sides that were affected by conflict. 20 young people were chosen from both sides. We went for a travel together on a bus in different countries. I took pictures. There isn't any kind of communication between Georgian and Ossetian youth. We don’t know how they live, what they worry about, what they think about, what are their problems, what they dream about... We didn’t know anything except that general information, which we get from some people or TV. and I took photos. about us.
Fourth Stage: The World
Before I started travelling, I was working at a hostel, where people were bringing their countries, loves and fears, and they were leaving them in my photos. There I discovered that “Suliko” (a prominent Georgian song) goes very well with Malaysian folklore; that in Poland there lives a girl who loves Chopin, lomography and drinking tea on the roof like me. I found out that in Iran there lives a boy who believes that fireflies aren’t bugs. I found out that the world is not as far as I have believed previously.
Thanks to photography I realize how important is to believe in changes.
When I think about my future I don't see any concrete pictures. everything is in blur. one and only thing I'm sure is that photography will stay there.
my camera is dead after car crash. and with my monthly income in Georgia, it will take around 3-4 years to buy new one. If there is such thing as a dream job it's a photography for me. I know that life can happen and I might end up somewhere else, but I still decided to try to fight for it. I will hope for your support.
thank you!
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