G e o_s y n_c h r o n i_c i t y

Natural frames, Etseri, August 2001

Across the road from "my" home in Etseri is this ruined, abandoned house which gives me very mixed feelings. I hate the thought of some family leaving it after perhaps generations, moving south to find better work and an easier life away from Svaneti. An all too common story, the net result of which will be the extinction of the Svans, absorbed into the Georgians, impoverishing the world. On the other hand, I love finding frames which are part of the photograph. This house has not only been a sad sight for me, but also a rich site to explore and benefit from. Even this bonus - coming from others' misery - is a conflict. But it hasn't stopped me from making the pictures, in every season, colour and black & white, every time I go.