Alec Soth: So about 10 years ago, I got a call from a woman in Texas, Stacey Baker, and she'd seen some of my photographs in an art exhibition and was wondering if she could commission me to take a portrait of her parents. Now, at the time I hadn't met Stacey, and I thought this was some sort of wealthy oil tycoon and I'd struck it rich, but it was only later that I found out she'd actually taken out a loan to make this happen.
Alec Soth: Pred 10 leti me je poklicala ženska iz Texasa, Stacey Baker. Videla je nekatere moje fotografije v umetniški galeriji in se je spraševala, če bi lahko naredil portret njenih staršev. Takrat nisem še poznal Stacey in sem mislil da je neke vrste premožni naftni tajkun ter da bom postal bogat. Šele pozneje sem izvedel, da si je sposodila denar, da je to omogočila.
I took the picture of her parents, but I was actually more excited about photographing Stacey. The picture I made that day ended up becoming one of my best-known portraits. At the time I made this picture, Stacey was working as an attorney for the State of Texas. Not long after, she left her job to study photography in Maine, and while she was there, she ended up meeting the director of photography at the New York Times Magazine and was actually offered a job. Stacey Baker: In the years since, Alec and I have done a number of magazine projects together, and we've become friends.
Fotografiral sem njene starše, vendar me je fotografiranje Stacey bolj navduševalo. Fotografija, ki sem jo posnel tistega dne, je postala ena izmed mojih najbolj znanih portretov. V obdobju ko sem naredil to fotografijo, je Stacey kot odvetnica delala za zvezno državo Texas. Kmalu za tem je dala odpoved zato da bi študirala fotografijo v Mainu. Medtem ko je bila tam je spoznala direktorja fotografije pri New York Times Magazinu. Ponudil ji je delovno mesto. Stacey Baker: Od takrat sva skupaj z Alecom naredila nekaj projektov za revijo in sva postala prijatelja.
A few months ago, I started talking to Alec about a fascination of mine. I've always been obsessed with how couples meet. I asked Alec how he and his wife Rachel met, and he told me the story of a high school football game where she was 16 and he was 15, and he asked her out. He liked her purple hair. She said yes, and that was it. I then asked Alec if he'd be interested in doing a photography project exploring this question.
Nekaj mesecev nazaj, sem začela Alecu govoriti o temi, ki me je zanimala. Od zmeraj me je zanimalo kako se pari spoznajo. Vprašala sem Aleca kako sta se z ženo spoznala. Povedal mi je zgodbo o srednješolski nogometni tekmi, ko je bila ona stara 16 let, on pa 15. Povabil jo je na zmenek. Všeč so mu bili njeni vijolični lasje. Ona je rekla da, in to je bilo to. Nato sem vprašala Aleca če bi ga zanimalo izpeljati fotografski projekt na to temo.
AS: And I was interested in the question, but I was actually much more interested in Stacey's motivation for asking it, particularly since I'd never known Stacey to have a boyfriend. So as part of this project, I thought it'd be interesting if she tried to meet someone. So my idea was to have Stacey here go speed dating in Las Vegas on Valentine's Day. (Laughter) (Applause) (Music)
AS: Zanimalo me je to vprašanje, vendar me je veliko bolj zanimal Staceyjin razlog za to vprašanje. Predvsem zato, ker nisem nikoli vedel, da bi Stacey kdaj imela fanta. Pomislil sem, da bi bilo zanimivo, če bi v sklopu projekta poskusila spoznati nekoga. Moja zamisel je bila, da bi se Stacey udeležila hitrih zmenkov v Las Vegasu, na Valentinovo. (Smeh) (Aplavz) (Glasba)
SB: We ended up at what was advertised as the world's largest speed dating event. I had 19 dates and each date lasted three minutes. Participants were given a list of ice- breaker questions to get the ball rolling, things like, "If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?" That sort of thing.
SB: Prišli smo na kar je bilo oglaševano, kot največji dogodek hitrih zmenkov. Imela sem 19 zmenkov in vsak zmenek je trajal tri minute. Udeleženci so dobili seznam vprašanj s katerimi začeti in nadaljevati pogovor na primer: "Če bi lahko bil katerakoli žival, katera žival bi bil?" Take vrste vprašanj.
My first date was Colin. He's from England, and he once married a woman he met after placing an ad for a Capricorn. Alec and I saw him at the end of the evening, and he said he'd kissed a woman in line at one of the concession stands.
Moj prvi zmenek je bil Colin. Prihaja iz Anglije in nekoč se je poročil z žensko, ki jo je spoznal potem, ko je objavil oglas za kozoroga. Z Alecom sva ga videla proti koncu večera in rekel nama je, da je poljubil žensko, ki je stala v vrsti pred blagajno.
Zack and Chris came to the date-a-thon together.
Zack in Chris sta prišla na hitri zmenek skupaj.
This is Carl. I asked Carl, "What's the first thing you notice about a woman?" He said, "Tits." (Laughter)
To je Carl. Vprašala sem ga: "Katera je prva stvar, ki jo opaziš na ženski?" On je rekel: "Joške." (Smeh)
Matthew is attracted to women with muscular calves. We talked about running. He does triathlons, I run half-marathons. Alec actually liked his eyes and asked if I was attracted to him, but I wasn't, and I don't think he was attracted to me either.
Matthewa privlačijo ženske z mišičastimi goleni. Pogovarjala sva se o teku. On dela triatlone, jaz tečem polovične maratone. Alecu so bile njegove oči všeč in vprašal me je če mi je bil privlačen, a ni mi bil. Mislim da mu tudi jaz nisem bila privlačna.
Austin and Mike came together. Mike asked me a hypothetical question. He said, "You're in an elevator running late for a meeting. Someone makes a dash for the elevator. Do you hold it open for them?" And I said I would not. (Laughter)
Austin in Mike sta prišla skupaj. Mike mi je postavil hipotetično vprašanje. Rekel je: "Si v dvigalu in se ti mudi na sestanek. Nekdo pridrvi do dvigala. Pridržiš odprta vrata?" Odgovorila sem mu, da ne bi. (smejanje)
Cliff said the first thing he notices about a woman is her teeth, and we complimented each other's teeth. Because he's an open mouth sleeper, he says he has to floss more to help prevent gum disease, and so I asked him how often he flosses, and he said, "Every other day." (Laughter) Now, as someone who flosses twice a day, I wasn't really sure that that was flossing more but I don't think I said that out loud.
Cliff je rekel, da prvo kar opazi pri ženski, so njeni zobje. Drug drugemu sva pohvalila zobe. Rekel je spi z odprtimi usti in si mora zobe znitkati pogosteje, zato da bi preprečil bolezni dlesni. Vprašala sem ga kako pogosto si jih znitka. Odgovril je: "Vsak drugi dan." (Smeh) Kot nekdo, ki si znitka zobe dvakrat na dan, nisem bila prepričana, da je to zelo pogosto ampak mislim, da tega nisem rekla naglas.
Bill is an auditor, and we talked the entire three minutes about auditing. (Laughter)
Bill je revizor in vse tri minute sva govorila o reviziji. (Smeh)
The first thing Spencer notices about a woman is her complexion. He feels a lot of women wear too much makeup, and that they should only wear enough to accentuate the features that they have. I told him I didn't wear any makeup at all and he seemed to think that that was a good thing. Craig told me he didn't think I was willing to be vulnerable. He was also frustrated when I couldn't remember my most embarrassing moment. He thought I was lying, but I wasn't. I didn't think he liked me at all, but at the end of the night, he came back to me and he gave me a box of chocolates.
Prvo kar Spencer opazi na ženski je njena polt. Misli, da veliko žensk nosi preveč make- upa ter da bi ga ženske morale nositi samo toliko, da jim poudari tiste značilnosti, ki imajo. Rekla sem mu, da ne uporabljam make-upa, in zdelo se je, da mu je to všeč. Craig je rekel, da se po njegovem mnenju ne zdim pripravljena biti ranljiva. Bil je nejevoljen, ko se nisem spomnila svojega najbolj nerodnega trenutka. Mislil je, da lažem, a nisem. Mislim, da mu nisem bila všeč, ampak na koncu večera, je prišel do mene in mi podaril škatlo s čokoladnimi bonboni.
William was really difficult to talk to. I think he was drunk. (Laughter)
Z Williamom se je bilo težko pogovarjati. Mislim, da je bil pijan. (Smeh)
Actor Chris McKenna was the MC of the event. He used to be on "The Young and the Restless." I didn't actually go on a date with him. Alec said he saw several women give their phone numbers to him.
Igralec Chris McKeena je bil predstavnik dogodka. Igral je v soap operi "The Young and the Restless" Osebno nisem imela zmenka z njim. Alec je rekel, da je videl precej žensk, ki so mu dale telefonsko številko.
Needless to say, I didn't fall in love. I didn't feel a particular connection with any of the men that I went on dates with, and I didn't feel like they felt a particular connection with me either.
Odveč je povedati, da se nisem zaljubila. Nisem občutila posebne povezave z nobenim izmed moških, s katerim sem imela zmenek in mislim, da niti oni niso občutili posebne povezave z mano.
AS: Now, the most beautiful thing to me -- (Laughter) -- as a photographer is the quality of vulnerability. The physical exterior reveals a crack in which you can get a glimpse at a more fragile interior. At this date-a-thon event, I saw so many examples of that, but as I watched Stacey's dates and talked to her about them, I realized how different photographic love is from real love.
AS: To kar mi je kot fotografu -- (Smeh) -- najbolj všeč je ranljivost. Naša zunanjost razkriva razpoko, skozi katero lahko dobiš vpogled v krhkejšo notranjost. Na dogodku hitrih zmenkov sem videl veliko takih primerov, ampak, šele ko sem opazoval Staceyine zmenke in sem se z njo o njih pogovarjal, sem ugotovil kako se fotografska ljubezen razlikuje od prave ljubezni.
What is real love? How does it work? In order to work on this question and to figure out how someone goes from meeting on a date to having a life together, Stacey and I went to Sun City Summerlin, which is the largest retirement community in Las Vegas. Our contact there was George, who runs the community's photography club. He arranged for us to meet other couples in their makeshift photo studio. SB: After 45 years of marriage, Anastasia's husband died two years ago,
Kaj je prava ljubezen? Kako deluje? Zato, da bi našla odgovor na to vprašanje in da bi razumela kako se nekdo odloči na podlagi zmenka, da bo preživel življenje z nekom drugim, sva s Stacey šla v Sun City Summerlin. To je največja skupnost upokojencev v Las Vegasu. Tu sva imela stik z Georgom, ki vodi fotografski klub te skupnosti. Organiziral nam je srečanja z drugimi pari v njihovem začasnem fotografskem studiu. SB: Po 45 letih poroke, je Anastasijin mož umrl dve leti nazaj.
so we asked if she had an old wedding picture. She met her husband when she was a 15-year-old waitress at a small barbecue place in Michigan. He was 30. She'd lied about her age. He was the first person she'd dated.
Vprašali smo jo ali ima kako staro poročno sliko. Moža je spoznala kot 15-letna natakarica v mali restavraciji v Michiganu. On je imel 30 let. Ona se je zlagala glede njene starosti. On je bil prvi moški s katerim je hodila na zmenke.
Dean had been named photographer of the year in Las Vegas two years in a row, and this caught Alec's attention, as did the fact that he met his wife, Judy, at the same age when Alec met Rachel. Dean admitted that he likes to look at beautiful women, but he's never questioned his decision to marry Judy.
Dean je bil imenovan fotograf leta v Las Vegasu dve leti zapored. To je pritegnilo Alecovo pozornost. Pritegnilo ga je tudi dejstvo, da je spoznal ženo Judy pri isti starosti, kot je Alec spoznal Rachel. Dean je priznal, da rad gleda lepe ženske, ampak ni nikoli podvomil v poroko z Judy.
AS: George met Josephine at a parish dance. He was 18, she was 15. Like a lot of the couples we met, they weren't especially philosophical about their early choices. George said something that really stuck with me. He said, "When you get that feeling, you just go with it."
AS: George je spoznal Josephine na vaškem plesu. On je imel 18 let, ona pa 15. Kot veliko parov, ki sva jih spoznala, nista veliko filozofirala o njunih zgodnjih izbirah. George je rekel nekaj, kar se me je dotaknilo. Rekel je, "Ko dobiš tisti občutek, sprejmi ga."
Bob and Trudy met on a blind date when she was still in high school. They said they weren't particularly attracted to each other when the first met. Nevertheless, they were married soon after.
Bob in Trudy sta se spoznala na zmenku na slepo, ko je bila še srednješolka. Rekla sta, da si nista bila posebej privlačna, ko sta se prvič srečala. Kljub temu, sta se kmalu zatem poročila.
SB: The story that stayed with me the most was that of George, the photography club president, and his wife, Mary. This was George and Mary's second marriage. They met at a country-western club in Louisville, Kentucky called the Sahara. He was there alone drinking and she was with friends. When they started dating, he owed the IRS 9,000 dollars in taxes, and she offered to help him get out of debt, so for the next year, he turned his paychecks over to Mary, and she got him out of debt. George was actually an alcoholic when they married, and Mary knew it. At some point in their marriage, he says he consumed 54 beers in one day. Another time, when he was drunk, he threatened to kill Mary and her two kids, but they escaped and a SWAT team was called to the house. Amazingly, Mary took him back, and eventually things got better. George has been involved in Alcoholics Anonymous and hasn't had a drink in 36 years.
SB: Zgodba, ki se me je najbolj dotaknila, je bila Georgova, predsednika fotografskega kluba, in njegove žene Mary. To je bil njun drugi zakon. Spoznala sta se v podeželskem klubu Sahara, v Louisvillu, v Kentuckyiju. On je pil sam, ona pa je bila s prijatelji. Ko sta začela hoditi, je državi dolgoval 9.000 dolarjev davkov. Ona je ponudila njeno pomoč pri izplačilu dolga. V naslednjih letih, je svojo plačo predajal Mary, in ona ga je rešila dolga. George je bil alkoholik, ko sta se poročila in Mary je to vedela. V določenem trenutku njunega zakona, je imel navado spiti 54 piv na dan. Spet drugič, ko je bil pijan, je zagrozil, da bo ubil Mary in njuna otroka, vendar jim je uspelo zbežati in posebna policijska enota je prišla na njun dom. Presenetljivo je Mary moža sprejela nazaj in sčasoma so se stvari obrnile na bolje. George se je vključil v društvo anonimnih alkoholikov in ni pil alkohola že 36 let.
(Music)
(Glasba)
At the end of the day, after we left Sun City, I told Alec that I didn't actually think that the stories of how these couples met were all that interesting. What was more interesting was how they managed to stay together.
Na koncu dneva, ko sva zapustila Sun City, sem Alecu rekla, da si nisem pričakovala, da bodo zgodbe o tem, kako so se pari srečali, tako zanimive. Kar je bilo še bolj zanimivo, je bilo to, kako jim je uspelo ostati skupaj.
AS: They all had this beautiful quality of endurance, but that was true of the singles, too. The world is hard, and the singles were out there trying to connect with other people, and the couples were holding onto each other after all these decades.
AS: Vsi so bili čudovito vzdržljivi, a to je veljalo tudi za samske. Življenje je težko in samski se poskušajo povezovati z drugimi ljudmi, medtem ko pari držijo skupaj po dolgih desetletjih.
My favorite pictures on this trip were of Joe and Roseanne. Now, by the time we met Joe and Roseanne, we'd gotten in the habit of asking couples if they had an old wedding photograph. In their case, they simultaneously pulled out of their wallets the exact same photograph. What's more beautiful, I thought to myself, this image of a young couple who has just fallen in love or the idea of these two people holding onto this image for decades?
Moja najljubša fotografija tega potovanja je bila slika Joe-a in Roseanne. Ko sva ju spoznala, sva se že navadila, da vsak par vprašava ali imata kako staro poročno fotografijo. V njihovem primeru, sta oba istočasno vzela iz denarnice dve enaki fotografiji. Kaj je lepše,sem pomislil, ta slika mladega para, ki se je ravnokar zaljubil, ali ideja, da se dva držita te slike za desetletja?
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(aplavz)