MOVING STILLS
Trisha Ziff :: 24.10 - 09.11 :: 2019

CONTEMPORARY SPACE AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS VARNA
present the exhibition

MOVING STILLS
Films on photography by Trisha Ziff
12th of October – 9th of November 2019г.

Opening
24 of October, 19:00 in the presence of the curator of the exhibition

Curated by Nadezhda Pavlova

At the invitation of Contemporary Space Synthesis Gallery will present in Varna the exhibition “Moving Stills – films on photography” by Trisha Ziff. The exhibition is focused on four of the films of the renowned British director: “Chevolution” (2018), “The Mexican Suitcase” (2011), “The Man Who Saw Too Much” (2016) and “Witkin and Witkin” (2018). They tell the stories of the photographers: Alberto Korda, Robert Capa, Enrique Metinides, Joel-Peter Witkin and his brother, the painter Jerome Witkin. The exhibition will be held in parallel at Contemporary Space and Photosynthesis Varna.

This exhibition continues the thematic module “Cinema and photography”, an initiative by Synthesis Gallery in partnership with the Sofia International Film Festival to show the work of acclaimed photographers and directors, underlining the relation between photography and cinema.

The exhibition “Moving Stills” includes iconic images of world-renowned photographers: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, David “Chim” Seymor, Alberto Korda, Enrique Metinides and Joel-Peter Witkin, as well as documents, posters and artefacts related to the films of Trisha Ziff.

As a side program to the exhibition, the films “Chevolution” (2018), “The Mexican Suitcase” (2011), “The Man Who Saw Too Much” (2016) will be screened.
“My first films as a documentary filmmaker are dedicated to the still image. Films speaking about photography, telling the narrative of photographers. How they see, think and behave, what they saw and how their images are seen and understand in the world. The still image took me to film; using the language of film to look at the quiet of a single moment.” – shares Trisha Ziff.

Her first film inspired by photography was “Chevolution”, a zoom-in on the most famous portrait of Ernesto Che Guevara, that art-historian David Kunzle describes as “The Mona Lisa of Photography”. It was taken in 1960 by Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, a famous Cuban photographer and revolutionary, signing his works under the name “Korda”.

“The Mexican Suitcase” follows the path of the negatives of three notorious photographers, Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymor and Gerda Taro, taken during the Spanish Civil War. Considered to be lost for more than seventy years, they were found by chance at the bottom of a closet in Mexico City in 207.

“The Man Who Saw Too Much” is a film about fragility; about a man obsessed with photographing the accident who discovered that the fate of others was his way of connecting to life.

“Witkin and Witkin” explores the worlds of two identical twins, the world-famous photographer Joel-Peter Witkin and Jerome Witkin, a painter and educator. They don’t speak to each other, but we visit the first museum exhibition where their work does; despite their lack of intimacy the work resonates.

About the author
Trisha Ziff is a documentary filmmaker and curator of photography, having worked in the visual arts for over thirty years. Founder of the 212 BERLIN film company, ex- member of the collective at CAMERAWORK in the East end of London and later founder of CAMERAWORK DERRY in the north of Ireland, before moving to Los Angeles and later to Mexico City.
Trisha worked independently as a curator, book editor collaborating with international publishers and in more recent years, making documentary films. Trisha is a Guggenheim scholar and recipient of many awards in the USA, England and in Mexico, including the National Endowment of the Humanities, Arts Council of Great Britain and FOPROCINE & EFECINE in Mexico. As a filmmaker, her directorial debut in 2008, was “Chevolution” for Netflix and Red Envelope. She produced and directed, “The Mexican Suitcase” a Mexican/Spanish coproduction (2011). Directed” The Man Who Saw Too Much” (2015) which won her, her first Ariel, for best documentary, and a second Ariel for best score, and numerous other awards. She recently completed, “Witkin & Witkin”, (2017) a study on the identical twins, photographer Joel-Peter and painter, Jerome. Trisha teaches film and media studies and guest lecturing at various universities in the U.S. Mexico and in Europe.

Side-program of the exhibition*

25th of October, Friday, 18:30
Guided tour of the exhibition with the curator Nadezhda Pavlova
Contemporary Space and Photosynthesis Varna

26th of October, Saturday, 18:00,
screening of “The Mexican Suitcase”, (2011), 86’
Contemporary Space

29th of October, Tuesday, 20:00,
screening of “The Man Who Saw Too Much”, (2016), 89’
Contemporary Space

30th of October, Wednesday, 20:00,
screening of “Chevolution” (2008), 86’
Contemporary Space

*All events are free of charge

Exhibitions