Gomma Photography Grant 2023
Proof of existence
Photographer
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom
Proof of existence
22 Feb, 2024
This work encapsulates the essence of what our New Flavour Award strives to price. The weird, absurd, obscure, most honest actualisation of who you feel you are in your mind, materialised and thrown into society, mixed into the ordinary, ready to engage. This fantastically creative work gives us a taste of how this might realise, birds of paradise and wallflowers, in common places, reversing and refocussing our understanding of the “true selfâ€, confidently open with all its spikes and edges, rendering everyone their own work of art on the stage of habituality.
Words by Gomma (Laura Estelle Barmwoldt)Artist statement: 'Proof of existence' involves the creation of various characters, each with their unique personality and world, captured in everyday locations and situations. The project's theme is to normalize the weirdness within us, celebrating our differences and showcasing that they exist in all of us; we're all strange characters who are a part of society. Through our work, we aim to make a social impact by changing the way we view others. We advocate for solidarity, open-mindedness, and greater inclusion and diversity in the media and the world at large. The project blurs the line between reality and fantasy, combining the documentary and the staged, In addition to the characters the series will contain still life or landscape images with the same bizarre atmosphere. The duality between the two will emphasize the fine line between the bizarre and the everyday.
About the photographer
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom are a photography duo living and working in London, UK. Drawing on a storytelling-based approach to the photographic medium, the two are continuously striving to engage viewers from all backgrounds in a journey into their visual world. Suspended between fantasy and reality, the factual and the bizarre, their universe immerses whoever comes across it in a blend of surreal visions, daily experiences, and artistic references which all contribute to making their signature style and aesthetic vocabulary so naturally captivating. With a preference for striking colour palettes and researched lighting techniques, Bar and Avshalom portray life around them through an honest, distinct, and all-encompassing gaze. Leveraging their knowledge of art history and combining it with their natural inclination toward all-around contemporary culture, they restitute a visual rendition of today’s society that is at once poignant and thought-provoking in its nature. Also known as Fotómetro, the duo looks at their craft as a means of advocating the urge for a more diverse and authentic global community; a mission that the photographers pursue on a day-to-day basis by casting non-models for both their personal (eg. Proof of Existence, 2023-ongoing; Us, 2020-2022; Tell Me Where Your Freedom Lies, 2022; Youth, 2021) and commercial work. Turning the lens onto themes such as identity, individuality, and relationships, their practice wants to be a mirror for the infinite facets of the human experience, pushing the boundaries of gender, race, and sexuality among others.
