A conversation with Joris Robben
A dark journey through memories, loss and the unknown. With his science fiction photo project “The Zone Calls Me,” photographer Joris Robben sets out to find a place where reality blurs and boundaries shift. Inspired by the experiences of his father, who struggles with Alzheimer's.
As part of Roadburn festival's OFFROAD program, Joris will exhibit his photo series “The Zone Calls Me” at NS16 from April 17-20. In this project, Joris explores his father's experience with Alzheimer's disease, in the form of a science fiction photo series. It tells of a journey through a world where the familiar becomes strange and the unknown intrudes. 'The Zone' is a place that is both terrifying and comforting. A mental space in which one gets lost, but where you might also find a piece of footing.
Melancholy landscapes
Joris found inspiration for the concept of “the unknown” in the film “Stalker” by Andrei Tarkovsky, a Russian director. “That film is about stalking a place. A kind of magical place where people want to go, to seek their deepest desires. That concept really appealed to me. My personal work is very much characterized by landscape photography anyway, and I also like to look for a dark and melancholic atmosphere. That film appealed to me so much that I was inspired to start making a photo series with the concept.” To do this, Joris looked across the country's borders for the best locations to convey that feeling: “The Zone is about an area that is closed off and that you are not actually allowed to enter. Where strange things happen, or perhaps dangerous things. To capture that in images, I started photographing locations in the Netherlands, but also in Belgium and Germany. I looked a lot for industrial, older buildings and abandoned areas.”
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The Unknown
“Meanwhile, for a very long time, all kinds of other things had been going on in my private life. My father's health has deteriorated considerably over the last ten years. He has Alzheimer's disease and it has gotten worse and worse over the years. As I was shooting for this series, I realized that what I was looking for in all those locations had a huge connection to my father's illness. Unconsciously, I was working on that subject without even realizing it myself.” Joris finds that connection in the theme of the unknown: “My father has Alzheimer's, so he forgets things. He knows there are certain things but he can't articulate it. In the series, I very much look for the unknown, a feeling that resonates with my father's situation. In retrospect, it all seems super logical. But I didn't make that connection at the beginning. Funny, that when something is so close, you just can't see it.”
Photography allows Joris to express his feelings, as in this case. “I'm better with images than with words,” he says. “We went through some crucial moments with my father. For example, there have been times when he was very angry. Then we don't know exactly at whom or what. A huge anger that I had never seen from him or recognized from him. In the series I made that moment of escalation recur. Because of that, it has also been a way of processing for me. The project is not about Alzheimer's. But the feeling I put into it has to do with that connection with my father. And so with that disease that he's dealing with now. It's very personal. But it can mean something very unique to someone else again. I would love it if people get their own feeling with the series.”
With the OFFROAD program, Roadburn brings the city - and its people - closer to the festival and vice versa. At various locations around the city, you can enjoy performances, activities, discounts, special menus and more. Check https://roadburn.com/offroad-eng/ for more information. Learn more from Joris and his photo series “The Zone Calls Me?” read more at https://roadburn.com/ns16/
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