Burim Myftiu in a nutshell?
I was born and raised in Kosovo. During the war in 1999 I was admitted as a refugee with my wife and two children to the United States. After loosing everything I started my new life in the land of opportunity. I was fortunate to meet the right people and to continue with photography. Photography is my passion and photographing beyond the visible is my obsession.
Your artistic singularity: what are the major themes you pursue in your work?
Almost all my work is in one or another way related to everything I went through in my life. I mostly do long term conceptual photography projects, like: ‘Trance’ – about the state of mind of Dervishes during the rituals, ‘Remembrance’ – giving a new function to the shop mannequins to visualize war sufferings or ‘Missing’ – bringing the faded images of missing people into the museums and galleries…
During the war in the streets of Kosovo you could see pictures of missing people everywhere. There are still thousands of people disappeared. In time they fade. The traces of memory will stay forever thanks to the hope in people. Bringing these photographs to an art form is to encourage the act of resistance and protest, like a documentary and to show that‘We will never forget you’.
Your encounter with art: how did you first get interested in your medium, and what draws you to it?
It was my father who first got me a camera. And I’ve started with some of my projects when I discovered that photography is my language, my way of expression. Later I studied photography, long after taking my first pictures. And after decades I am still studying. Just for curiosity.
Which techniques do you use?
During the years I developed the technique I use, to photograph beyond the visible. For example when I take pictures of the Dervishes I also do the dancing they do during their rituals. I do it with my camera. I photograph not the Dervishes as people, but the moment of Trance, the state of mind when they do body piercings without feeling pain and without bleeding.
More information about Burim Myftiu:www.myftiu.com
And soon on : www.singulart.com !
