GROZNY MEMORIES (Russia, 2009)
The Chechen capital Grozny once was known as the greenest city in the Soviet Union. Today Grozny is synonymous with war, destruction and gloom. Taco Hidde Bakker came to know the old Grozny from stories and photographs from Chechen refugees whose portraits he shot in The Netherlands. Moreover, on the internet he was able to acquire reproductions of picture post cards of the intact city of yore. When blown up greatly, the pixelated photos become a metaphor for memory and devastation. Bakker combined them with the refugees’ recollections of the war which he had previously written up. The contrast creates a feeling of discomfort and calls up questions about the influences which go into the mental pictures we develop.
