“I learned to take pictures, which hint at more than I saw, more than I knew, more than we can ever know about another person, place or culture” – Alex Harris.
Alex Harris (Alex Harris) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from Yale University in 1971, he began to hone skills in documentary photography.
Between 1972 and 1978, Harris lived and photographed in the villages of Northern new Mexico and eskimo villages in Alaska. He five times went to Alaska, a total of a year lived in several eskimo villages in the Arctic circle along the river Kobuk, as well as in other villages in the Delta of the Yukon-Kuskokwim, on the southern coast of the Bering sea. The Eskimos were open and welcoming.
“Invariably some of the local residents asked: “Why are you here?” When I said I came to take pictures, followed by a second question: “Where will you stay?” I replied that I do not know. “Then stay with us”, offered Alaskans,” – says the photographer. Alex Harris was hoping to reflect in photographs his acquaintance with new people and places are shot on black and white film. For inspiration, he often drove with him a couple of books that answer the questions associated with the technique, framing or exposure. Among the sources of inspiration Harris was the book “the Gypsies”, which became famous Josef Koudelka. She had a deep impression on him.
“Koudelka has made photographs, full of life and full of mystery,” concluded Harris. He did not imbibe high contrast and wide-angle style Kudelka, but began to understand how to penetrate into another world with the camera. “With each subsequent trip to the village I realized that you can immerse yourself in the world and at the same time to observe him. I learned how to take photos that hint at more than I saw, more than I knew, more than we can ever know about another person, place, or culture.”
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