A metronome is perfect, persistent, strict and relentless

 

 

It is said that photographers take photos not only with the intention to depict the world, but also to leave a trace, a visible sign of their presence.

Following this observation we can proclaim that every photograph does not only captures something from the world but also returns something back to the world. This statement is also useful to the degree that enriches our reading of photographs. It urges us to take a step behind and trace the relationship of the photographer to his subject.

  It impels us to wonder what kind of desire drove him or her to leave a mark on a certain object, person, room or event. Apparently it is true that in the present abundance of photographic images, the detection of this desire is difficult. And this is mainly due to the ease and haste of producing and consuming photographs.

Fortunately, some photographers follow different rhythms. They stand, look and think in front of their  subject. Taking a picture of it leaves a visible trace of their presence and their relation with it.

In Gina Maragoudaki’ s pictures presented in the exhibition “Metronome”it is the darkness, the sense of a melancholic wandering in places sealed and cut off from the rest of the world. As her photos reveal little about their origin, one realizes that what matters for her is not the description of the subject matter, but her relationship with it:  In an unexpected union of photography and painting (Self Portrait) we discern a transparent, dark, incomplete head leaning on Dominique’s shoulder, a model in a Tsarouchis’ painting.

The position that Maragoudaki takes in front of the frame of the painting, the reflection that places her in it, theway she tilts her head can also be read as a confession of the lure  images exercise on her".

    Costis Antoniadis