Momentarium : : by Markuz Wernli Saitô

Shadow Followers: Comments+Feedback.

Together with interpreter Le Ngoc Son I invited 15 local people in Bao Loc (Lam Dong, Vietnam) to take photographs every day of things they found noteworthy and important, using single-use cameras.

PROJECT ARCHIVE
Video doc (55MB)
Participants’ pics
Journal entries
Comments
Lounge plan 432KB

The motivation behind was not to bring developmental impulses or creative charity into a community. Rather, I was interested in getting connected to a community and in turn create a structure where 15 very different participants who normally don't meet find themselves unknowingly in the same project, working individually on a collective documentary.

Mrs. Le Thi Phuong is a happy grandmother and runs a combined coffee shop and gaz station on Highway 55. She decided to document the fleeding street life in front of her house.

“This project is intriguing. The photographs are beautiful - so personal and at the same time they establish an intercultural dialog... I am anxious to see what will come out of this. I would love to learn the stories behind those scenes.”
Gabi Hadl, Kyoto

“I did look at some of the photos from your Vietnam project - some very compelling images - another world - thank you for making this s experience possible for all - the people in Vietnam, the artists and us.”
Katrine Benninger, Oakland

“I am enjoying the still images which are great. They remind me of our friendly and enthusiastic participants and also our project... The images on this website bring up many feelings that I experienced during our project. Warm and happy are my feelings now when I see the photos and read the comments. And I also wonder how our participants are doing, how they celebrated the new year, and I wonder how their farm work is going when I read through their journals again.”
Le Ngoc Son, project interpreter and assistant, Ho Chi Minh City

“... you were able to have a fruitful experience, a meaningful exchange, learned a ton and came back with great material to further the project...”
Cella, Transart Institute, Linz

Mr. Pham Viet Hien is proud father of a baby son and working at a coffee refinery besides growing tea and coffee.

“For me Shadow Followers is a lived sample of peace work.”
John Einarsen, Kyoto

“I love your Shadow Followers project. I wonder if you could expand it somehow using the cameras that people have on their phones, and create a wordwide, online database of Shadow Followers, helping us discovers the hidden corners of everyday life around the planet.”
Roman Krznaric, Oxford

“I love the concept of this project, and I'm glad that you came to my country for making art here.”
Phan Thi Thao Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City

“Interesting: in our business we are also thinking from the individual's perspective and put the context of daily life in the center by analyzing the photo documentations and reports of our consumers to create platforms for growth... ”
Hartmut Heinrich, Hamburg

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Each moment of the everyday, every action of living, poses the question: how it might be lived differently, more truthfully and respectfully. Through conscious interventions Momentarium provides a forum of inquiry on human coexistence.