City Lights
In January 2020, Ernst Lalleman and Ritaflowers presented their collaboration project City Lights.
City Lights is an investigation into the green space in the city of Barcelona and how its inhabitants relate to it.
Ernst did image research, he went into the city with his camera and photographed and filmed models with the designs of Ritaflowers. Marga from Ritaflowers researched why more green space in the city is important and was inspired by this when designing the product line City Lights. Click here for the City Lights manifesto.
Ritaflowers is a Spanish floral designer who works using a spiritual approach: "When working with flowers we feel like coming home. We need more flowers in our present lives if we want to have a future. Humans are not separated from nature, we form part of it.
Barcelona is situated in a valley, surrounded by the Mediterranean sea and mountains, which prevents the city from expanding, with the result that the city is packed with buildings and traffic. Air pollution is a big problem, on windless days a yellowish "mushroom" hangs over the city.
The idea was to investigate what life in a city actually means for a human being. Now, with the Corona crisis, that theme seems more on topic than ever, and there is an exodus from the big cities to the countryside in Spain. The cause is partially economical, but certainly also an increased awareness which has led people to question their lifestyle. It has become clear that the situation in the city is not ideal. The project had already been completed when the crisis began in March. There was a slumbering that something had to change in the current urban life situation.
Marga researched the condition and/or presence of green spaces in Spanish cities. The aim of the project is to draw attention to the necessity of plants, trees, parks etc. in cities. Also here we see the link to the Corona crisis because there are no millions of tourists coming to Barcelona anymore: in March and April there was hardly any traffic and the sky literally cleared up enormously and there were more birds to be heard and more greenery to be seen. Here, too, I find it striking that a month and a half after the presentation of the project, everything changed in the city.
The process
The first visual inspiration was the final scene from Chaplin's film City Lights in which the tramp receives a flower from the, previously, blind girl. The collaboration with Ritaflowers gave me the opportunity to visualize this in a focused way. Marga and I started by photographing people in the city wearing the art objects of Ritaflowers. Initially we wanted to show the contrast between the natural designs worn by people in the city filled with stones and traffic. But when I looked at the material I saw the images had turned out differently. My way of working is due to the fact that the images produced a different result than the plan I had come up with beforehand. I don't work with professional models but with people I know and who have a feel for the theme. While photographing or filming, I look at what is happening and record that, I hardly ever direct. The input of the people photographed is crucial for the end result; I record their reaction to the surroundings and the wearing of the design.
After photographing the designs and the people, I went into the city several times to photograph what I felt about the starting point, namely what the hard, noisy and unhealthy life in the city does to me. I combined those images with the photography and stills from the videos we made with Ritaflowers' designs, and people.
During the evaluation of all the images I came to the conclusion that I experience the city differently. The city was much greener than in my perception and the people we photographed fitted in well. It became clear to me that instead of worrying about the bad life in the city, it is better to make a positive contribution by getting involved. In my case through image research and the publication of the results: City Lights.
The photography
De video's
The exhibition/product presentation
On 25 January we presented the collection of Ritaflowers and the visual material. There was music, the medical doctor and epidemiologist Adrian Wenban talked about the relationship between environment and health, there were handouts of the manifesto etc. The photography was exhibited in printed form and the videos were projected.
150 visitors and invited guests wore and admired the designs, they showed commitment to the idea behind City Lights. The goal was achieved: to draw attention to the living situation in the city.
With thanks to: Miel Andriessen, Patrizia Lattanzio, Inés Muñoz Inglada, Joan Santamarta, Adrian Wenban, DJ Yohit, Ana Domínguez, Melissa Vos, Ben de Groot, Justin Lewis and Mariana Castro.
Pictures presentation: Melissa Vos
© Ernst Lalleman 2020
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Marga Martín Santamarta
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