shashasha

"There is no difference between taking a picture of others and myself. The camera may be pointed outward, but whether you like it or not, it always reveals you." - Adou

In this latest series of works, aptly titled after the artist himself, Adou goes to the root of the individual and the camera, the photo-grapher in front of the lens, seen and unseen, both photo-grapher and subject of his photographs. While making photographs in the mountains of Sichuan for his “Samalada” series of portraits, Adou once said “There is no difference between taking a picture of others and myself. The camera may be pointed outward, but whether you like it or not, it always reveals you”.

I don’t know why I take photographs; if I knew I would not keep taking them. I don’t know the significance of life; if I knew I would not keep on searching.

To me, photography is a kind of belief. I believe that photography is better than me. This explains why I disdain churches, why I disdain all forms that are other than photography. When you become a part of the (his) photograph, you do not need our shallow sensibilities to emphasize the greatness of an image. You are just vassal for the picture, some insignificant dust in the light.

We are so arrogant, apt to become false gods at hypocritical moments. However, this is not a true part of ourselves, we can also find brilliance in those moments. This is the contradiction…

If this answer has no significance – if you only care about process – then who can tell us, what is the process? “Don’t turn around, you’ll turn into stone.”

ーAdou