A special book.

® Abbas Kiarostami / COSACNAIFY

As i told you in my last post i've being looking my books i had left at home....its funny to see how some have changed to my eyes. Some times you need time and new experiences to appreciate films, books etc... In Paris i had the chance to see a beautiful exhibit at the Centre Pompidou...Víctor Erice/Abbas Kiarostami Correspondances showing a dialogue between there works.I'm a bigger fan of Kiarostami's work, especially his contemplative landscape photography. Seeing his large prints and installations gave me a new glance to his work so when i got home the first book i opened was Abbas Kiarostami published by Cosac Naify after his participation at Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo. The book is very well printed..when you open it fells good in the hands. At the first pages you find his photos from the series (also exhibited at the Pompideu) Roads of Kiarostami...and while you flip the pages you will find a number of great texts discussing photography, reality, cinema and his personal approach to both midias. In the end of the book Abbas writes a beautiful peace on a homeless girl he observes at Avenida Paulista, São Paulo while she pics Aluminium cans in the garbage.

Here is a short paragraph where Abbas talks about his approach to photography....its in Portuguese, sorry. Maybe use google.

"A fotografia satisfaz os sentimentos criadores e torna possível o acesso a serenidade. Há nesse domínio uma pureza estranha..[...] A pureza da fotografia se manifesta quando se está sozinho, face a si mesmo...o silencio não é pertubado pelo clique do disparador, captando o instante. Toda a imensidão do ser está contida aí, reduzida no aparelho, de tal modo que se pode guardá-la no coração e preservá-la serenamente..[...]De uma certa maneira, divina, a fotografia permite que nos apropriemos da natureza e do ser. Não se deve, porém, esquecer que é difícil aceder a esse estado privilegiado. É preciso saber olhar, saber ver. Tudo se resume na maneira de ver. O segredo reside no conhecimento desse modo de visão, de olhar"
Abbas Kiarostami