We live in a boom of scripted TV series where watching TV shows take the face of addiction. It has brought many changes in people’s behavior and their response to others.
Watching episode after episode became normal. What it is that attracts us, what do we find in them? One year ago a car hit me. Because of damage to my spine, I was forced to spend a lot of time in bed without being able to move. During this period, I saw a lot of TV series. I was watching episode after episode. Watching TV shows felt good – better than real life. It helped me to forget my situation and get used to my new reality. One day, I watched 22 episodes in 24 hours. That was the day I decided to make this project. “Pilot” is about TV shows – their addictive nature and me, dealing with it. Photos combine two part, one from the real life and another one from the TV series. Here reality merges with the TV world and, as a result, we get something ugly, scary, and mystical. Like seeing 22 episodes in a day.
Most of the photos are taken while watching famous TV shows. Others while going through my old photographs. Anytime I would have a strong need to go out for a walk and take new photos, I would start digging in my archive and recapture them. “Pilot” is the world which doesn’t exist. I tried to create a sphere where would be difficult to draw a line between real and surreal, where characters lost their original faces and altered I someone unrecognizable. It is a reminder for me of that time when I lost the clear understanding of reality and got lost in different realities. Photos are taken with my smartphone.
About Mano Svanidze
Mano Svanidze (1992) is a Georgian photographer currently based in Tbilisi. She graduated from Tbilisi State University, faculty of Economics and Business with a BA in Marketing. She also studied composition and music for 10 years. In 2009 she discovered her interest in photography. Mano is a member and co-founder of 90’x Collective. Her work has been exhibited in several countries including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Italy. Currently she works as a freelance photojournalist at media platform Chai Khana. [Official Website]
