Background information, statement by the photographer, Vitaly SEVEROV
"'Summer Shore' is the geographical name of the coastal area of the 'White Sea' and standing opposite the 'Winter Shore'. That names gave by ethnic people of White Sea - pomors, who are lived there for centuries, which trade with Norway and living by sea. This book has the same title - 'Summer Shore' - and represent my journeys there and nostalgia feelings of my childhood which spend there, in a small point - Severodvinsk city.
Content
In this series, I try to understand how memories affect perception. The book, 'Summer Shore', is made as a harmonica scroll, placed in a clear plastic audiocassette case. This form conveys the idea of time, rhythm and continuity of music. The book has linear narrative that unfolds itself through the recurring images of light. I remember our home, windows were facing west. Every evening, before plunging into darkness, the sun threw the last beams of light through the windows. Where the sun was setting, the coast disappeared behind the horizon. That world left me only memories and few things. But the shore is still there and I‘ve been dreaming about traveling there.
The basis of human perception is vision; it is the perception of light. Ideas of light are at the core of human cultures. Light is the source of life, information, the sun is at the center of our world. The principles of time measurement are based on the movement of heavenly bodies. Time inevitably moves forward, life in its stream is inconstant and often doomed to fade away. When time stops, the movement and light also stop. Where time stood still, there would be nothing but darkness. So, imagine that everything has stopped. So far, your vision retains the afterimage of light — bright colored spots: as if, after looking directly at the sun, you close your eyes. But they fade away too, and complete darkness sets in, you get lost in it. The world that once surrounded you ceases to exist in its usual forms. Once in this darkness, you find yourself like a child in the face of the unknown, and at the same time in the face of yourself. You experience coldness and fear, loneliness, and the only thing you wish for is the return of light, variety, flashes and fades, because they are the life." (© Vitaly SEVEROV)
Additional information
Photographed 2016-2018, White Sea, Summer Shore coastal area, Arkhangelsk region, Russia. 'Summer Shore' is printed and made by Vitaly SEVEROV himself, is hand stamped and numbered, has a very limited print run and comes on an edition of only 125 copies. It comes in clear plastic audiocassette case, size: 10 х 19,4 cm., 52 pages, harmonica scroll Inkjet printing.