Photo-Dialogue: Still or Moving?

When I started writing on Photo-Dialogue I was trying to find ways for photos and visual methods to extend our ability to hold dialogue and communicate beyond the simple use of spoken words or written text.  

A lot of material falls between the lines of the words that we speak or read (yes, even these words ;-) and my aim is to find ways of encouraging a richer account and a different sense of 'knowing'.

I was pretty well set on 'photos' meaning 'stills' because they are comparatively simple, easy and most of us actually carry a camera in some form.  Now though, my phone does video and small movie cameras are much more common - and now and then I see work that really opens my eyes to the massive potential of video.

Over recent years, some of my family and friends have been living in Spain and I've been visiting occasionally.  Spain is a curious and beautiful country but I've never really been able to explain how I feel about it.

Then I saw Matthew Brown's Sincerely Spain and it is completely obvious to me that he 'gets it.'  

Shot in Barcelona, seville, Cadiz and Madrid, this movie 'feels' like Spain in the way that words can't tell you.

Sincerely, Spain from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

Stepping away from beauty and looking further into Matthew's work, here is something that powerfully evokes a whole different set of emotional responses.  

Take a deep breath and watch Shoah.

 SHOAH from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

As Matthew says on Vimeo, "To the heavens... going to reflect..."