Eric Lusito in Arles, 2011. Photo: Mindaugas Kavaliauskas
Mindaugas Kavaliauskas: Eric, the story of you coming to Kaunas is paradoxal. When we first met in Arles, and I informed you about KAUNAS PHOTO STAR competition, you were in doubt whether to come or not, but already had a nice proof of your excellence in photography – “After the Wall” book published by Dewi Lewis with your work from your itineraries to the post-soviet terrain and the signs of the fading power of the Soviet Union. You were committed to come to reviews in Kaunas, having learned that Irina Tchmyreva, a curator from Russia will be among the reviewers. Finally, she was unable to come, but you came, and the board of KAUNAS PHOTO STAR reviewers chose you as the winner. As a matter of fact your exhibition “Traces of the Soviet Empire” at KAUNAS PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY is held exactly twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union...
Who or what lead you to the idea of traveling to East Germany, Baltic States, Russia, even Mongolia? How did this project evolved?.. When did you make your first trip, where?
Eric Lusito: On November 9, 1989 when the worldwide television were broadcasting live the demolition of the Berlin Wall, I was a twelve-year old teenager from the generation for whom the Iron Curtain meant very little and cared even less about the indoctrination and oppression of peoples under the Soviet rule. When seeing these pictures, despite my twelve years, I was intrigued and appalled by the joy and emotion of the reunion, the joy and emotion of the German people finally meeting after twenty-eight years of separation. At the time I was aware that something important had taken place right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t describe exactly what my feelings were, all I knew was that, one day, I would make the journey that would help me understand what had been going on beyond that wall. After high school, I pursued my studies and got a degree in science. I worked for a few years in the industrial field but decided to pack up and visit the Eastern European countries at the wheel of an old British van, with my camera as my only companion. I had decided not to research for the trip as I wanted to allow free rein to discovery. I arrived on July 2002 to Novy Jicin, a city in the Czech Republic.
I admit having felt a bit lost, not knowing one word of the language. I stayed there a month to find my bearings. The encounter with Radek, a young geography professor, proved to be decisive for me. We became friends and had long conversations in English about the way of life during the communist era. One day he proposed that I should accompany him to discover an abandoned soviet military base. A fascinating sight that grabbed my imagination. I started to understand the power that the Red Army represented and the fear that it provoked. Radek told me about the existence of other abandoned military bases, some had been looted, some were under surveillance while others were poorly guarded; crumbling testimony to a past bound to disappear at the hands of time. I though decided to seek out these military remains throughout the former Soviet territories – relics of the ambition and power of the USSR.
M.K. My curiousity goes further than that. You come from a tranquil skiing resort, Chamonix... One would imagine that a photographer living there would primarily photograph mountains?..
E.L. I’m born in Aosta, Italy, and my parents came to in Chamonix when I was 4 years old. As a teenager, like all young people of the valley I practiced skiing in winter and hiking in summer. I was lucky to grow up in an exceptional beautiful place, where the spectacle of nature changes every day. The sensations I felt to live this live performance does not, however, never motivated me to play the apprentice photographer.
M.K. “Traces of the Soviet Empire” is a work similar to those “odysseys” of young photographers exploring vast countries, such as Simon Roberts' “Motherland Russia”, Max Pam's trans-Asian or trans-African journeys, etc. Whom among your colleagues, photographers did you consider as possible ideals or examples?
E.L. When I started I was not involved in photography. I was more attracted by writers such as Nicolas Bouvier or Jack Kerouac.
M.K. Did you count any statistics – how many trips you made, how far did you travel, how many days did you spent travelling, how many sheets of film did you do, how many glasses of vodka you needed to drink not to offend the locals?...
E.L. No, no, I was following my instinct. I can say this project started in 2002 and the last trip was in autumn 2008, I had the feeling it was time to stop. Travelling is one very good thing but the most important for me was the sensation to making art.
M.K. In the map of your travels, your way stretches via Lithuania, but there are no images from Lithuania?...
E.L. I made investigations in Lithuania like elsewhere. I am very strict in the decision whether to take a photograph, I must feel a strong visual shock to do so. It didn’t happen in Lithuania. I remember to visited one place near Kaunas, a former soviet missile base now used by NATO forces. One barrack was squatted by homeless people, it was terrible smelling inside and they invited me to drink vodka. I declined the invitation and escaped this trap and then go to the Nato checkpoint. There I spoke with one officer, a nice woman from Norway and she finally warned me “Don’t come here because the guards will shoot you !”.
M.K. Many of your subjects were military objects – was it simple and easy to go and take pictures? How did people or officials react in different countries to your intentions ?
E.L. Yet I realized the time and effort that would have to be invested in order to reach my objective. I knew that I would need the collaboration of the local population and for that I would have to gain their confidence. I succeeded in obtaining their trust.
Of all the difficulties encountered during this project, I’ll only mention that of the Zangiz-Tobe missile base. Lost in the middle of the steppes of Kazakhstan, with four high-surveillance prisons located upon its grounds, I can’t even begin to list the obstacles crossed and the physical effort deployed in order to gain access.
M.K. You have used a 4x5 view camera. Wasn't it a too difficult task to travel with such equipment to so distant and hard to reach places? Any difficult moments or casualties?
E.L. I started with my simple Konica compact amateur camera. Then when it was broken in 2003 my father emerged an unknown Zenit E. It is a cheap old Soviet-made camera. I was fascinated by the "Made in USSR" and the massive size of the object. I learned the basic settings for shooting with the Zenit but the cell was not working anymore and inside the film was exposed to light. Then I moved to the affordable Nikon F65.
It goes without saying that the first photos could not be used for the show. The theft of this material was then critical to my future as a photographer. In Vilnius in 2005 my camera bag was stolen. Then I realized how important was photography for me now and at that time decided to equip myself with professional equipment. My goal was to find a large format camera, lightweight, compact, easy to maintain and cheapest as possible. Finally I chose the Toyo 45 CF, 90 mm and 150 mm second hand lenses, a Fujifilm Quickload and film 160S. All the equipment and accessories fits into a normal camera bag and with the tripod it weights only 15 kg. All cost about €1500. This material gave me great satisfaction. But despite the inevitable technical problems I had to face, my 4x5 camera was one key to connect with people, because locals, police and military see that I was not a spy.
M.K. Would you develop your films in puddles?... As was another great travel photographer, Max Pam doing?... If seriously, how were you handling the film – would you develop it when back to France? How did you manage to save the film from numerous ways of control of baggage, etc.
E.L. Thanks the Fuji Quickload system you can travel a lot. It’s a portable and convenient pre loaded sheet film system that is lighter and less bulky than traditional darkslides. Back to Mongolia the films were x-ray scanned 8 times without any problem. All was developed in Paris. Sadly Fuji has stopped the production in 2010.
M.K. You are quite young, both as a person, and as a photographer. In France they used to say that a photographer under 45 is not serious. How would you respond to that?..
E.L. And some people will say that after 45 years an artist start to be boring, or that it’s better to died at 27 like Basquiat or Amy Winehouse recently !
I put my attention more on the work than the artist. An artist can be inspired at some point in his life and catalyze the energy to produce a good work that exceeds its creator regardless of his age, nationality....
M.K. How does it feel to return to Lithuania. Does it still remind you of the lost equipment?...
E.L. It’s very good, It reminds me only the good time, the nice people I met here. I like very much Lithuania and the Baltics. If in 2004 you will told me I will make all this show here!! I have the desire to share this project with the public, 20 years after the independence, we have to learn so much from you.
M.K. Thank you Eric. I believe after this exhibition In Kaunas Photo 2011 more people will discover your work and follow your carreer.
