Denis Brudna
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Introduction accompanying the publication in Photonews 6/93 |
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| The photographer Amin El Dib (born in Cairo in 1961) already began to work on a series in 1988, which - viewed in an intermediate stage - is a very interesting photographic exploration of portraiture. The images are portraits of individuals with their house pets. The photographs were not, as one might think, taken in the studio but were staged in the home setting of the individual portrayed. The people depicted are friends and acquaintances of the photographer.
Without the photographs these facts might lead one to believe that this is a touching series of people-animal pictures that attempts to charm the viewer. However, the work of this photographer, which has now become quite extensive, does anything but that. Although Amin El Dib photographs people in a classical manner, he brings a clearly disturbing element into the picture through his placement of the people and animals depicted. Regardless of its pose, the animal has a remarkable self-assurance and visual presence. This is even true, when only traces or fragments of the animal are to be seen. Bordering on irony, the photographer's point of view reveals the ambivalent relationship between humans and other animals. El Dib writes: "The relationships in which animals and humans coexist within our civilization are numerous but yet one-sided. We use animals as substitute partners and children, as therapeutic aids. We eat them and clothe ourselves in their remains. We use them for science and industry, as a last remnant of nature, for cuddling, as status symbols and sexual objects, to avoid loneliness and much more." In fact, the observations in El Dib's double portraits reveal a lot about of these kinds of innuendoes and the relationship between those portrayed. In addition, one also sees an interesting photographic approach to the living subject matter in front of the camera. On the one hand, El Dib's images follow the rules of classical portraiture, and on the other they only seldom convey an attempt at creating a "beautiful" representation. El Dib does not try to make the smooth transition to a customary sense of harmony. These "mild provocations" both create uneasiness and hold an attraction at the same time. This is sometimes due to the positioning and other times to the direct gaze of the photographic subject. Not only external forms and features but also the deeper relationships between man and animals are depicted. As almost always in life, here too extreme opposites are not that far apart. Therefore, it is no wonder that we are not dealing with cute animal-portrait clichés - that the results are not cat-lover calendar photos. Together the palpable harmony that is shown and a certain brutality generate an uncertainty on the part of the viewer, which is intended. The roles in front of the camera have been assigned democratically. Sometimes the animal looks into the camera with a dignified expression, and sometimes El Dib lets the person play the dominant role. Nevertheless, in both cases the photographer has an almost indifferent function. His images seem cool and observed with distance, which for me is the key to their particular quality. Amin El Dib studied architecture at the TU in Berlin and completed his studies with "Diplom" in 1990. He has worked in photography with increasing interest since 1981. Denis Brudna, Photonews 6/93 |
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