Classifying a creator’s photographic images has always been an intricate process. With the passage of time and, consequently,with the growth of the archive, its organizational parameters tend to vary depending on its kind, usage, objective and destination. In the event the archive loses the chosen configuration, the actual “identity” of the photographs may be lost or, even, the viewer may be thrown into confusion.
In the series Little Lies, a conscious defiance of classifying photographs according to any specified parameters is actually at the core of the artist’s ten-year exploration of the way photography functions as a narrative medium. This first presentation of the series is not taking place in an inherent exhibition space, but rather in a photographic studio, which actually forms intrinsic part of the work itself. Behind the artfully lit fictional scene against the lightbox one vaguely discerns dinner preparations; the curtains are obscuring sceneries and works of an artist always present and in motion; the lady with her oversized yellow handbag strolling in the park would possibly welcome an incitement to liven up her pace by Ferrand, the character Francois Truffaut portrays in his own film Day for Night.
Io Paschou has been methodically exploring the limits of photography’s important property, namely its power to break down and recompose reality each time under new conditions. The photographic series Little Lies calls for a sharpening of our everyday observational skills and resourcefulness. Besides, those attributes impel a photographer or movie director to incorporate documentary material into her narrative fiction, or a simple spectator to accept that his life might offer unexpected cinematic moments. The conflicting experiences of everyday life and those of show business along with numerous juxtaposed childhood instances are recognisable themes. This time though these themes are not looking for yet another chance to be represented, but rather for possible interpretations of the functions of memory, and for a comparison of narrative techniques with the actual facts.
