10.8.14

Costica Axinte



Two new prints of digital collages (using images from the Costica Axinte archive)

Costica Axinte was a Romanian war pilot and photographer who took over 5000 portraits of villagers, soldiers, families and couples after World War One.

His haunting photos are being meticulously archived here.

I spent about three hours last night just looking at the individual faces, imagining their lives, the inner worlds of these people who had thoughts and desires and joys just like we do. It's a fascinating collection- some of the faces seem to jump out at you and simply demand your attention. 

One of the wonderful things about this collection is that it has been released into the public domain, (yay!) making it possible for artists to appropriate the images to create new works.

Above are two artworks inspired by two of the faces that called out to me.
For me these faces have a transient beauty that makes them stick in the mind long after you've seen them.


1 comment:

Denise said...

To look into their eyes and wonder about there lives... So much to ponder.