The Suitcase

When I see the picture, I am reminded of Marcel Duchamp’s Box in a Suitcase (1935-1940). He miniaturized his past works and packed them all into a single suitcase; a small museum that he could carry and expand wherever he wanted. But where does this wanderer want to spread his belongings? Who is he anyway? Certainly, he is not Duchamp. The trinkets in his suitcase are not selected works either. The camera has detached from his body, and he, headless, seems to be stepping out of the frame of this photo, as if pursuing his own fate. What is his fate? That multi-wheeled monstrous vehicle, which has cast a shadow over the dust of this picture under the weight of its presence. Yet, this shadow is not the shadow of the monster. The shadow has crept from outside the picture into it. The photographer’s cropping and framing prevent us from seeing what the shadow belongs to. And the secret of this photograph lies in these cuts. The clash of colors plays its game among the cuts, lights, and shadows. With these devices, the photographer expands the boundaries of what we cannot see. And that creature gazes around in confusion amidst all of this. It seems that the fate of that man and our fate are intertwined with the gaze of that creature.