Fulfillment through Photography
"Sometimes I focus on something near, or something far away. Focus matters so much to me in my pictures; one tree or one house...Sometimes I’m so upset, so angry, then I climb a mountain to take a picture and feel so relaxed. Mountains and sunsets are so good.”
Solve Manson (a name chosen by the artist) sat down recently with Lighthouse to explain how he’s come to be recognized as a photographer. In the past, working as a sous chef, most of his photography revolved around his plates. Photographs would be of his meals festooned with ingredients for visual appeal, meticulously arranged to impress. Now, as a Ritsona resident, his images are focused on something far different. Solve is concerned with capturing the nature around the refugee camp. He wakes up in the early morning when it feels like “no one is in camp” and “there’s no noise."
“Maybe next I’ll take photos of animals, I like animals,” Solve says before talking about his passion for watching National Geographic. “I like watching about the oceans, animals, mountains...I would watch after coming home from cooking."
Switching from to Farsi to English to express himself more deeply, Solve reflects, "If people have something that allows them to release their stress, or an outlet that relaxes them, I hope they look into it and get involved with it and find joy there. Find fulfilment."
Solve captures his images on his phone, which has proved difficult at times. Twice has he lost all his photographs, once when his phone broke and another time when authorities confiscated his possessions at a border. He has now backed up all of his current images, planning ahead. His Instagram posts come frequently, providing different perspectives on the camp. The photographs are all marked with one common theme: a timestamp of when the image was taken. “So I can remember.”
To see more, you can follow photographer and musician Solve Manson on his Instagram here.
