Photographs from this series were taken during my trip through the Moroccan mountains of Atlas and Rif. I had never before visited a continent so different culturally from Europe. One of the most significant experiences during the trip was the encounter with local people, Moroccan mountaineers, mostly Berbers and nomads. It soon became clear that I needed to find a way to come to terms with their otherness, find common ground for both cultures. As a result I had to look at my own culture and reconsider my values. One of the most important discoveries in this regard was my experience of time. In Africa, I had this distinct realization that the time passes much slower, and differs dramatically from the ever-increasing pace of living in the West. This realization would come to me every time I witnessed local people sitting in front of their shacks or on stones. Echo series attempts to illustrate my state of mind prompted by this different, new experience of time.
As one of the major philosophical issues, time encompasses problems of physics, philosophy of nature, psychology, as well as existential and religious problems. In psychological terms, time is closely linked with the perception of physical time. In the formal context, light, and especially light emanation captured by the negative, became for me a way of expressing this idea. However, it is worth remembering that individual experience of time by a person taking a photograph is of paramount importance. This was the reason why the exhibition featured also the works that transformed during their exposure to light that came in contact with photosensitive emulsion applied to some photographs. The result was that the disappearance of the image in real time enhanced the experience of passing time.
