Look out of the dark (At Banija in Karlovac) 2016

Editor: So, here we have Alfred Freddy Krupa’s 2016 black and white photograph, "Look out of the dark (At Banija in Karlovac)". I find it immediately evocative—a bit melancholy, peeking from shadow into…well, not exactly light, is it? What draws your eye in this piece? Curator: It's interesting you say melancholy. I get that sense too. The perspective—looking from the inky blackness through a doorway into the monochrome world—suggests a search for something. For me it is intensely nostalgic: what secrets does this dark entryway conceal, what is its siren song? The starkness of the monochromatic palette is softened with tonality, there’s a depth to the shadows which makes the light all the more precious and, paradoxically, revealing. Editor: The framing definitely creates that feeling of peering into something private. Do you think that's intentional, given the title mentions looking out of the dark? Curator: Absolutely! It’s an invitation to a certain kind of witnessing, don't you think? There’s this real contrast. He offers just enough light, enough visual detail, to keep us from being totally lost in shadow, and maybe even… just maybe… enough to feel hopeful about what awaits just out of reach. The rough textures practically beg to be touched. But can you tell me what is ‘Banija’ to which the title makes reference? Is this particular detail integral to how we perceive this work of art? Editor: My understanding is that it’s a district in Karlovac, Croatia. Given Krupa’s Croatian heritage, perhaps it adds a personal, localized element to what could be a more universally felt emotion of looking for hope in a place that isn't very hopeful? Curator: Exactly. The photograph captures something really personal in a wider social fabric, it connects, which is why the image resonates and stirs so profoundly. I initially saw hopelessness in this composition but now understand the subtlety of what might come out of it. Editor: That tension between darkness and a pinpoint of light, that ambiguity is beautiful.