Amin El Dib
Life before Death & Postscript & Additions

Accompanying Text to "Life before Death" 1993/96

The basis is material created during the performance of the work "Cain" in the Theater Artaud in Berlin in 1999. Cain murders Abel.

The technique is simple. Lines and planes are defined by laying pieces of cardboard over the print during numerous exposures. They communicate with the forms projected at the same time, which are determined by the negative. Technically this is a combination of the common negative-positive process with that of the photogram, which is used here in its most reduced form.

By using different exposure times it is possible to investigate the positive in reference to the negative. What is hidden within the blacks and the whites and the relative positions of the transitions, i.e. the gray tones, becomes visible. The photograph's underlying texture, the grain, is emphasized and juxtaposed within different gray surfaces.

The relationship between the compositional and representational elements of the PICTURES can be reconsidered.

Throughout this gradual process the cropping wanders across the photo paper in search of its final position and interpretation. The decentralized placement of the image reflects the act of its creation. Movement and life before death through the standstill of the image and not some random spellbound reality.

Amin El Dib, Berlin, September 1993

Postscript

Photography is picturing not depiction. The pictures are alive for the period in which they are created. Through our gaze they are revived after being frozen momentarily.

In the pictures we recognize figures in motion from one edge of the image to another. They will cross the image and disappear out of it. The image's surface constitutes nothing less than the whole of the figures' lives.

And also within the depths of the image they lose their consistency and cease to exist. They are in danger of dissolving into the graininess and abstraction amidst the interplay between surface and structure.

The pictures do not rely on the recognition of the figures, but the figures are reconstructed as we look at them, give them life and follow their movements.

Amin El Dib, Berlin, February 1996

Additions

"The basis... 1991."

The processing took place in the Summer/Fall of 1993.

"... material created"

35 mm film, b/w negative, T-Max 3200

exclusively automatic settings in extreme lighting situations (stage lights, mostly strong contrasts, sometimes also very low contrast)

long exposures, timed by ear, approx. 1 second

the films collected from various evenings were mixed and 2 films were developed per tank, and the developing times were increased with each tank by 2 minutes, starting with 10 minutes. Film 1+2= 10 min., film 3+4=12 min., etc.

avoided cramped framing, avoided focusing in on actions too closely, preferred to show surrounding space.

The reasons behind the intention of this procedure were to achieve a negative with a significant "element of chance ". From the very beginning of the project the intent was to further process the negative material and not to work in a "documentary" method. The idea was to extend the process of distilling an image from the mechanical reproduction into an interpretive creative procedure.

The transition from a negative to a paper print seems to me to be a step, which has been neglected by photographic theory. It is understood as an automatic process, as technical handiwork. At best, it is concerned with accentuating what the image has to say. What is generally at the core of theoretical considerations is the transition from what is actually seen to the image or thoughts on how photographs are read.

If one occupies oneself more intensively with the transition from negative to paper print, the endless possibilities for manipulating the negative become apparent. This potential for creating an image and gaining a new reality requires the viewer to confront the visual elements in the photographic image.

"Cain murders Abel"

Murder with the bare hands, as Cain killed Abel, was a deciding factor in the selection of the images for the 21 pictures of "Life before Death". Much attention is paid to hands. This is also true of the motif of movement, the actions of the figures.

"The technique is simple"

The chosen technique was first developed during the processing of the images. It comes from questions and realizations, which came up during the confrontation with the photographic material available at that point and the first attempts at processing. Above all, it serves to intensify the subjective experience of the photographer during the performance.

"... with that of the photogram..."

In terms of traditional photographic techniques (subject-camera-negative-print) the photogram is an exception - without an intermediate step between the subject and the print. With its very sparing usage here, i.e. almost without any evidence of texture, with the exception of the torn edges of the cardboard used, the compositional significance of the transition from negative to print is made clear. Cropping, composition, grain, gray tones and surface areas ultimately determine the impact and message conveyed by an image, even one that has been "normally" processed.

"... to investigate the positive in reference to the negative."

Negatives and photographic paper have different qualities, for example in terms of gray tone differentiation, resolution (grain), shapes of density gradation curves, formats, etc.
Just as not all of the information about the reality that has been photographed can be found in the negative, so too does the final print fail to provide us with all the information contained in the negative. Here as well, the photographer must create, decide.

"What is hidden within the blacks and the whites..."

What is visible or invisible in the picture, what exists or does not exist? The question of existence, life, and non-existence, death stemming from the murder of Abel, can be applied to photographic material.

"The underlying texture of the photograph, the grain..."

An attempt in the sense of Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, i.e. situations that are actually and directly experienced by the viewers involved in the performance. An attempt to make the pictures more sensual, more concrete and not to only let them persist as mental abstractions.

"The relationship..."

The quality of the representation in the photographic process remains important, but its significance for the photographic image is relativized. Other elements of the photographic process have the same significance; overall they have more influence on the image. A shift in accentuation that bears significant consequences for the viewing and interpretation of photographs.

"... this gradual process..."

The extended definition of processing extends from the choice of the photographic technique, i.e. camera and film, through to the final selection of a finished image. Here, it is more narrowly defined - the investigation and processing and interpretation of a selected negative.

"The decentralized placement of the image..."

The image is not placed in the middle of the sheet of paper, as accustomed. This demonstrates the discrepancies between the different materials, i.e. between the film and photographic paper. In addition, this reflects on the process through which the image was created, and questions are raised for the viewer about the environment beyond the chosen cropping, which is recognizable as a cut-out.

"... alive... revived after being frozen momentarily"

Photographs, images are only then lifeless, if they remain unseen. During their creation they are alive and within their dialogue with the viewer they are full of life. Life before death - life after death. Completely different qualities.

"... figures in motion..."

The instance of movement through the space is based on the nature of the performance by the Theater Artaud. The movement of the actors towards and away from each other and their movements that encompassed the entire performance site were basic elements of the game.

"... they lose their consistency and cease to exist."

Another possibility for presenting the themes of existence/non-existence in an image is dissolving the concrete into the abstract. In this work this is not carried to an extreme, since an interaction with the figures was important to me.

"The pictures do not rely..."

In extreme cases the figures disappear completely, and something new is created in their place - an abstract image.
While life before death for the photographs is based on a dialogue between the material and the photographer, life after death is based on a dialogue with the viewer.

Amin El Dib, Berlin, April 1996