Silence Is Golden
My friend Zion is a young filmmaker. We have worked together many times since we met. He has written scripts; I have written scripts. Sometimes he records sound, and at other times, we swap roles. This shot was taken under an old bridge. I had spotted the graffiti before and wanted to include the dark red colours, which is why the picture is cropped in this way. I have seen the wording on the sign many times, usually in reference to a lift, door, toilet, and so on. I wanted to show that juxtaposing the message to a human being would have a dramatic effect. The use of blue adhesive tape is deliberate, as I wanted a contrast between Zion’s skin and the paper.
The Futurist
Years ago I saw a Korean film where a monk placed scraps of paper over his eyes. The image stayed with me for a long time until I came up with the message we see here. The words came to me one day during the lull between sleep and waking. I asked Zion to write the words because I wanted his marks upon the paper. In the end, one makes a photographs in one’s head before realising the image.
Free Spirit, Bound Body
I have worked with chains before. I repaired a chandelier recently and I had to age the chain upon which it hung by painting it with various colours. This gave me the idea to paint a chain white and to use Zion’s hands to make a statement about voices which are prevented from speaking; individuals who are silenced by force; the common man against the forces of aggression. It’s happening all over the world even now. I like the contrast between the metal chain, padlock and bars and the softness of Zion’s gentle hands.
Donato Cinicolo is a photographer, poet, filmmaker, and author. Donato began his photographic career at the age of seventeen. He was given a camera, film, and the use of a darkroom by Bob Rogers, an ex-war photographer who had been rescued just in time from a Nazi concentration camp. Roger’s whole body was covered in cigarette burns, but he was patient with Donato and instilled in him the belief that it is the duty of the old and experienced to pass on their knowledge to the next generations. Donato now helps young people on their photographic journeys. In 1999, Donato transitioned to digital image-making and began working with short films and sound recording. “Once a photographer, always a photographer,” he’s fond of saying. According to him, photography is a way of seeing and recording the world around us, showing the viewer a particular view of the magic of humanity.
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