5
nological sequential arrangement in my photographic series. But I began
with pictures of people in the 1950s; then I photographed the series Pic-
tures and Signs whilst working on the collection Photo Varia at the same
time. I didn’t start work on the series Home of the Gods until about 2000
and after that I added the other series. The historical element of my cycle
emerged rather late and has grown in fits and starts. Be that as it may: I
don’t think that everything that later appears sequential must necessarily
have developed sequentially.
NL – Many of your photographic series are associated with journeys.
Significantly, you have given your photographic cycle the title
Journey to
the Beginning of Time
. To what extent is the journey to a theme part of
the photograph which is then created?
WL
- Travel is an important part of my life and of our photographic work
– a state of being and of discovery. During a journey I leave the firmly
established structures of my home environment and let something new
occur and become recognisable in me. On a journey I can reflect on this
unhindered by the constraints of everyday life at home. I prepare my
journeys in such a way that they will take me to the places to which I
have devoted myself intellectually and spiritually beforehand. Once
there, I know more or less what to expect, and the rest is then photogra-
phic routine and – with increasing age – of course also a physical chal-
lenge.
I almost never travel alone. My wife Yuko (10) organises the technical
aspects of our travels. She is a genius at planning, and thus I can concen-
trate completely on the photographic task. This frequently involves
waiting a long time for the right photographic balance between sky and
landscape. I never relax while travelling except during our usual extended
evening meals. I really tend to be much more restless than at home. For
me it is important to make contact with the people of the country we are
in at the moment. For instance, I try to talk to taxi drivers, or with the
waiter and the barber. I have the impression that I photograph better
when I view the place of our sojourn as our home while we are there. The
presence of my wife is also very important to me as symbolic figure of the
new-found place. Everywhere we travel I study the real estate listings,
because I always consider having a second residence for us there. This is
part of the ritual I need to feel close to the country we are in and to its
people, and also to assert myself as photographer. A feeling of foreign-
8 -Win Labuda,
Horizon 24
