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.
Alek Sot: I tako, pre deset godina, pozvala me je žena is Teksasa, Stejsi Bejker, ona je videla neke od mojih fotografija na izložbi i pitala je da li bi mogla da me unajmi da uradim portet njenih roditelja. Sad, u to vreme nisam bio sreo Stejsi i mislio sam da je bogati naftaški tajkun i da ću se obogatiti preko noći, ali tek sam kasnije saznao da je ona zapravo uzela kredit da bi ovo ostvarila.
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.
Fotografisao sam njene roditelje, ali sam zapravo bio više uzbuđen oko fotografisanja Stejsi. Slika koju sam napravio tog dana postala je jedan od mojih najpoznatijih portreta. U vreme kada sam napravio ovu sliku, Stejsi je radila kao advokat za državu Teksas. Ubrzo potom, napustila je svoj posao da bi studirala fotografiju u Mejnu i dok je bila tamo, upoznala je direktora fotografije časopisa „Njujork Tajms” i bio joj je ponuđen posao. Stejsi Bejker: Tokom narednih godina, Alek i ja smo uradili nekoliko projekata za časopise zajedno i postali smo prijatelji.
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.
Pre nekoliko meseci, počela sam da pričam Aleku o jednoj svojoj opsesiji. Uvek sam bila opsednuta time kako se parovi upoznaju. Pitala sam Aleka kako su se on i njegova žena Rejčel upoznali i on mi je ispričao priču o fudbalskoj utakmici u srednjoj školi kada je ona imala 16, a on 15 godina i on ju je pitao da izađu. Svidela mu se njena ljubičasta kosa. Ona je rekla „da„” i to je bilo to. Potom sam pitala Aleka da li bi radio fotografski projekat sa mnom koji bi istraživao ovo pitanje.
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: I mene je zanimalo ovo pitanje, ali me je mnogo više zanimalo zašto Stejsi to traži, posebno zato što nikad pre toga nisam čuo da Stejsi ima dečka. Tako, kao deo ovog projekta, pomislio sam da će da bude zanimljivo ako ona pokuša da upozna nekoga. Moja ideja bila je da Stejsi ide na brzo upoznavanje u Las Vegasu na Dan zaljubljenih. (Smeh) (Aplauz) (Muzika)
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: Završili smo na događaju koji je reklamiran kao najveće brzo upoznavanje na svetu. Imala sam 19 sastanaka i svaki sastanak je trajao tri minuta. Učesnicima je data lista pitanja za probijanje leda kako bi stvari krenule, tipa: „Kada biste mogli da budete bilo koja životinja, koja biste bili?”
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.
Takve stvari. Moj prvi sastanak je bio sa Kolinom. On je iz Engleske i bio je oženjen ženom koju je upoznao nakon što je dao oglas za jarca. Alek i ja smo ga videli na kraju večeri i ispričao je da je poljubio jednu ženu u redu ispred kioska za brzu hranu.
Zack and Chris came to the date-a-thon together.
Zek i Kris su došli na sastanke zajedno.
This is Carl. I asked Carl, "What's the first thing you notice about a woman?" He said, "Tits." (Laughter)
Ovo je Karl. Pitala sam Karla: „Šta je prvo što primetiš na ženi?” Rekao je: „Sise.” (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.
Metjua privlače žene sa mišićavim listovima. Pričali smo o trčanju. On je triatlonac, ja trčim polumaraton. Aleku su se zapravo svidele njegove oči i pitao je da li mi se sviđa, ali nije, a mislim da ni ja njemu nisam 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)
Ostin i Majk su došli zajedno. Majk mi je postavio hipotetičko pitanje. Rekao je: „U liftu si, kasniš na sastanak. Neko trči ka liftu. Da li zadržavaš lift za njega?”, a ja sam rekla da ne bih to učinila. (Smeh)
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.
Klif je rekao da je prva stvar koju primeti na ženi - njeni zubi i pohvalio je moje zube, a ja njegove. Zato što spava otvorenih usta, kaže da čisti zube koncem češće da bi sprečio bolest desni, te sam ga pitala koliko često čisti zube koncem i rekao je: „Svaki drugi dan.” (Smeh) Sad, kao neko ko koristi konac dva puta dnevno, nisam bila sigurna da je to često korišćenje konca, ali mislim da to nisam rekla naglas.
Bill is an auditor, and we talked the entire three minutes about auditing. (Laughter)
Bil je revizor i pričali smo čitavih tri minuta o revizorstvu. (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.
Prva stvar koju Spenser primeti na ženi je njen ten. On smatra da dosta žena nosi i suviše šminke i da bi trebalo da nose samo toliko da istaknu kvalitete koje imaju. Rekla sam mu da ja uopšte ne nosim šminku i izgleda da je mislio da je to dobro. Kreg mi je rekao da misli da nisam bila spremna da budem ranjiva. Takođe je bio iznerviran kada nisam mogla da se setim kada sam se najviše izblamirala. Mislio je da lažem, ali nisam. Mislila sam da mu se uopšte nisam svidela, ali na kraju večeri, vratio se kod mene i dao mi kutiju čokolade.
William was really difficult to talk to. I think he was drunk. (Laughter)
Sa Vilijamom je stvarno bilo teško razgovarati. Mislim da je bio 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.
Glumac Kris Mekena je bio domaćin događaja. Glumio je u „Mladi i nestašni”. Nisam zapravo otišla na sastanak sa njim. Alek kaže da je video nekoliko žena kako mu daju svoj broj telefona.
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.
Suvišno je reći, nisam se zaljubila. Nisam osetila posebnu povezanost ni sa jednim od muškaraca sa kojima sam bila na sastanku, niti sam osetila da su oni osetili posebnu povezanost sa mnom.
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: Sad, najlepša stvar za mene - (Smeh) - kao fotografa je ranjivost. Fizički spoljašnji prostor otkriva pukotinu kroz koju možete zaviriti u osetljiviju unutrašnjost. Na ovom događaju, video sam mnogo primera toga, ali dok sam posmatrao Stejsine sastanke i razgovarao sa njom o njima, shvatio sam koliko je različita ljubav na fotografiji od stvarne ljubavi.
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,
Šta je prava ljubav? Kako funkcioniše? Kako bih odgovorio na ovo pitanje i shvatio kako neko pređe put od sastanka do zajedničkog života, Stejsi i ja smo otišli u San Siti Samerlin koji je najveća zajednica penzionera u Las Vegasu. Naš posrednik tamo je bio Džordž, koji vodi fotografski klub u zajednici. On je organizovao da upoznamo ostale parove u svom improvizovanom fotostudiju. SB: Nakon 45 godina braka, Anastasijin muž je umro pre dve godine,
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.
pa smo je pitali da li ima staru sliku sa venčanja. Upoznala je svog muža kad je imala 15 godina i radila kao konobarica u maloj roštiljnici u Mičingenu. On je imao 30 godina. Ona je lagala koliko ima godina. On je bio prva osoba sa kojom se zabavljala.
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.
Din je bio fotograf godine dve godine zaredom u Las Vegasu, što je privuklo pažnju Aleku, kao i činjenica da je upoznao svoju ženu Džudi kada je imao isto godina koliko i Alek kada je upoznao Rejčel. Din je priznao da voli da gleda lepe žene, ali nikada nije preispitivao svoju odluku da oženi Džudi.
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: Džordž je upoznao Džozefin na igranci koju je organizovala parohija. On je imao 18, a ona 15 godina. Kao i dosta drugih parova koje smo upoznali, oni nisu posebno filozofirali o svojim ranim izborima. Džordž je rekao nešto što mi se urezalo u pamćenje. Rekao je: „Kada te strefi taj osećaj, samo ga pratiš.”
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 i Trudi u se upoznali na sastanku na slepo dok je ona još bila srednjoškolka. Ispričali su da nisu osetili posebnu privlačnost između sebe kada su se prvi put upoznali. Ipak, venčali su se ubrzo potom.
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: Priča koja mi je bila najupečatljivija bila je priča o Džordžu, predsedniku fotokluba, i njegovoj ženi Meri. Ovo je bio drugi brak za oboje. Upoznali su se u klubu u Luivilu, u Kentakiju, koji se zvao Sahara. On je bio tamo sam i pio, a ona je bila sa prijateljima. Kada su počeli da se zabavljaju, on je dugovao 9 000 dolara poreza i ona se ponudila da mu pomogne da izađe iz dugova. pa je tokom sledeće godine svoja primanja davao Meri, a ona ga je izvukla iz dugova. Džordž je zapravo bio alkoholičar kada su se venčali i Meri je to znala. U jednom trenutku tokom braka, on kaže da je pio 54 piva dnevno. Jednom, kada je bio pijan, pretio je Meri da će ubiti nju i njeno dvoje dece, ali oni su pobegli, a žandarmerija je pozvana u kuću. Začuđujuće, Meri ga je primila nazad i na kraju su se stvari popravile. Džordž je išao na sastanke Anonimnih alkoholičara
(Music)
i ne pije 36 godina.
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.
(Muzika) Na kraju dana, kada smo napustili „Grad Sunca”, rekla sam Aleku da zapravo ne mislim da su priče ovih parova o tome kako su se upoznali zanimljive. Ono što je bilo zanimljivije
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.
je kako su uspeli da ostanu zajedno. AS: Svi su posedovali divnu sposobnost izdržljivosti, ali poseduju je i samci, takođe. Svet je surov, i samci odlaze u svet pokušavajući da se povežu sa drugim ljudima, a parovi se oslanjaju jedni na druge nakon svih ovih decenija.
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 omiljena slika na ovom putovanju bila je slika Džoa i Rozane. Sad, u vreme kada smo upoznali Džoa i Rozanu izgradili smo naviku da pitamo parove da li imaju staru sliku sa venčanja. U njihovom slučaju, oboje su istovremeno izvadili iz novčanika potpuno istu fotografiju. „Šta je lepše”, pomislio sam u sebi, „ova slika mladog para koji se upravo zaljubio ili ideja da ovo dvoje ljudi nalazi oslonac u ovoj slici decenijama?”
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)