Jantien de Bruin: LandEscapes

A cliff over the wild sea, a dark forest with a misty horizon, a waterfall that flows like the hair of a beautiful young woman... Photos that are made to be observed in a meditative state of mind. There are no objects in the images than pure nature. Zen, if I misuse the word a bit.

The works are made with a camera obscura on spots in Japan that are popular with people making suicides. The exhibition was accompanied by a soundscape My favourite suicide spot by Ronald van der Meijs. It was me there, with the empty and at the same time glorious nature and the tingling sound of the audio track, making me flow into the darkness of those woods, flow into the mist and get lost forever.

The human being is a species that can overpower the will to live and survive. A situation where only forever nothingness is the ultimate solution. We are creatures who can make our bodies defunct and (if successful) dead, out of operation, because we want to. What struck me while I was observing these photos is that these suicide spots are so beautiful and remote that it becomes an art of killing oneself. A kind of a personal statement to the world that they wanted to depart in style and dignity. Much less nasty than throwing yourself under a truck from a highway bridge.

While watching these photos and listening to the soundscape I get a heavy feeling in my chest. A feeling as if I am being pulled into all those ravines, as if the spirits of the dead are whispering to me about their troubles. Better, maybe, as if the nature itself would like to get hold of me, as if it was made only for death.

But it is a death that seems to be peaceful. It becomes a personal and quiet way of removing oneself from this world, slightly more modest than all the flashy terrorist suicide attacks that plague our modern world.

Links and Sources

www.jantiendebruin.nl
www.ronaldvandermeijs.nl
www.fotofestivalnaarden.nl