Zufluctsort
In the Spring of 2015 I spent a month on a german speaking farm in rural france, in an attempt to pull myself away from the noise of urban life. The result of that trip is the series Zufluctsort, which was awarded a bursary at the Photofusion SALON/15 and went on to be exhibited at Photofusion SELECT/16 alongside three other photographers. The project was shot exclusively on medium format film. Shortly after, founding editor Christiane Monarchi of Photofusion interviewed me about my experience.
In ‘normal society’ we give away our responsibility to other people; doctors, teachers, parents, the people around us defined as ‘authority’, and with our responsibility we give away our freedom.
The community refused to relinquish their freedom, and so opted to carry it with them both physically and metaphorically, many of them choosing the life of travellers. Vegetables were grown from seed, water was collected from an under ground well and the house was constructed with advice from books and local farmers. They created their own community in a place where they had no authority to answer to, with time and space to do as they pleased. Some had stayed for years, and others for weeks but all were equal in accountability for the tasks at hand and all were equal in the rewards that were obtained from their completion. Neither praise nor orders were given, and the small isolated world on the farm was full of serenity, patience and always kindness.
