Lana Deluigi / Transasia Express

About

Lana Deluigi decides in June 2013, more or less on a whim, to leave for the Middle East. This part of the world indeed monopolizes the headlines of Western magazines and news, but remains unknown, since such a vast territory cannot be reduced to its difficult political situation or its bloody conflicts. For thousands of years people live there and have developed rich and varied cultures; despite the constantly stiflinger weight of religion, characteristics and individualities remain. In an attempt to decipher the complexity of the Orient which has always fascinated her, Lana Deluigi undertakes a three month journey that will lead her first to Lebanon, then to Turkey that she crosses from west to east to reach Georgia down towards Armenia and Iran. By plane, by bus, but especially by train, aboard the legendary Trans-Asia-Express which connects Istanbul to Tehran in three days, she travels through stunning landscapes, chaotic peri-urban areas, and busy city center.

Armed with an old Nikon F2 and a few books, she goes and meets the locals and tries to understand better their daily reality. These conversations determine if the young photographer will use her camera or not. Her shots are never taken on the spot or in a hurry, they reflect the confidence Lana Deluigi manages to create with the people she photographs. Setting up a trustful relationship involves reflection and distancing from the first emotion. Instinctively, Lana Deluigi gets away from photojournalism where the sensational and the affect are used to win the attention of the "viewer". Aware of the subjectivity of the photography since each picture is the result of someone’s look, she tries to pass on "her truth" rather than a fake objective reality: in response to the surrounding mess, she steps aside and chooses contemplation. Her photographs gives us a vision of peaceful and serene world.

Lana Deluigi was born in 1990 in Paris. She lives and studies there geopolitics.