Jan Svenungsson

"To fortify a city", in: Siksi # 2, 1988



"Quelle plus grande folie que celle de cet homme, perdu maintenant parmi les assiégeants de la ville qu'il a construite, et qu'il a faite imprenable!"*

At first I thought I should be able to fortify a city, any city, and that I would be able to avoid responsibility for its layout. As though the walls were the only thing of interest. Then I realized it was an illusion to think that I could remain neutral, but that in a certain situation it would also be impossible to make definite predictions about the future role of the city and its significance for the surrounding area. I chose to rely on intuitive, instantaneous insight in the hope that the consequences would take me forward. And those cities which I thought were not arranged turned out to somehow be part of a pattern that did not merely offer the experience of beauty.

Jan Svenungsson
(Translation Michael Garner)

The trustworthiness of the photographic image is one of its most ENCHANTING properties.