The Press Stories
Published in Magazine Wise, Archive photos of Khmer Rouge victims handled by Irish artist Matt Logri shook the web. Trouble: Smiling “distorted” faces from the past.
Matt Logry Project …
Through this project of manipulating black and white photographs the Irish artist wanted to restore the humanity of the victims killed by Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. Cambodia. The plan was to first color these images, digitize them, and make them more realistic, respecting and revitalizing their memory. Because their quality is almost identical to our contemporary motives, the faces of these victims are so compiled in our present, not just memory.
However, the final result was published in the press Wise Smiling shows men and women, yet they almost destroy the sad fate that is condemned.
. VICE Khmer Rouge opted for the works of Matt Logrie, who painted colorful portraits of the victims. A way to “humanize this tragedy” according to the media. Besides, Logri modified the archive images to make the victims laugh. pic.twitter.com/25fDRXLGUC
– Jack Bezet (ac jack_besset) April 10, 2021
Not published from Supplementary Magazine
According to the authors of Wise, These smiles were presented to the magazine as genuine by the artist, pleading the anxiety of the victims photographed, especially women. Matt Logre did not agree with the hesitant arguments after the release of his plan, Wise Decided to withdraw their article, instead of one Editorial report Justifies their choice.
After all, internet users around the world are often shocked by the artist’s project; The matter of the Ministry of Culture of Cambodia also strongly denies these manipulated photos.
Does the memory change?
Between 1975 and 1979, about two million Cambodians were massacred by the Khmer Rouge dictatorship. Several thousand victims were photographed before being hanged in the Tuile Sleng prison; Traumatic traces of the past, time seems to freeze them on a black and white background, which is far from our reality.
So, if there is a Matt Logrie plan to prolong the lives of these criminals that can never be led, it is our duty to remember that it places its limits on it. These smiles require a certain uniqueness that is unremarkable to reconsider our past இந்த These faces, which have been republished in numerous articles and social networks since the controversy, have resurfaced from the history in which they were buried; However, even if one tries to preserve their memory, it forgets behind many questions of its representation (for example, a manipulated photograph).
Title view: © «Female Investigators Issued by waterboardingdotorg Licensed under CC BY 2.0
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