Brave New World

Picture: From Photowisdom by Lewis Blackwell. © ARNO RAFAEL MINKKINEN

The artist, Arno Rafael Minkkinen says: "When I discovered that the camera would work better without me being behind it, that’s where my work really started. It came out of a process of discovery, which ties in with something I tell students that I teach. I tell them: 'Are you pressing the button because you have seen something you have seen before, or are you taking a risk to make something you haven’t seen?'"

He Said:

I took a picture of a girl on a train platform once. Her idea. I knew we were over but hadn't shared that with her at that point. She was smiling. I was thinking, I'm going to be the reason she stops smiling very soon. I didn't want that to be caught on camera so I said it would look better just her on her own. I hugged her before she boarded and didn't answer any of her calls after the train left the station. Not my proudest moment, just the way I handled breakups then. I think about that picture and wonder if she sees it as our last happy moment, or the last of my lies.

She Said:

I don't like risks. I don't see roller coasters, I see accidents. I don't see mountains, I see avalanches. I don't see wild abandon in the ocean, I see Jaws. Mostly, I tell myself I am being careful and in the words of my mother, better safe than sorry. But then sometimes, I feel sad at the things I miss. I don't mean bungee jumping or an adrenalin junkie's fix. It's the little things. Random acts of bravery. Being true to myself is scarier than jumping out of any plane. So, I waste time aping others, following when I want to be leading. But I guess the responsibility makes me uncomfortable. It's just so much easier when you have someone else to blame. but the road to the new year is always paved with good intentions. This year, I would like to create something, anything, and breathe new life into my dusty existence. But still, I find myself anchored in the past, stuck in time, sometime six years ago I think, when I confessed my raw feelings to a man not knowing how he felt in return. I am totally, insatiably, madly and crazy in love with you, I said. And I meant it too. 2004: The last time I was brave and bold and true. Here's hoping for a recurrence in 2010. What are your resolutions?