Award-winning filmmaker and photographer Harun Mehmedinovic will be at Warwick's on Thursday, November 7th to discuss and sign his book S?ance .
S?ance is a coffee table book of photographs and stories of people who escaped their daily lives and went on an adventure.
Harun Mehmedinovic on the Bloodhoney* Project: "I began taking photographs as a hobby ten years ago, during my studies at UCLA. Twice a year I would drive from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. and back, along Route 40, photographing landscapes. It was a way to disconnect from the daily grind, have a rare moment of solitude, and re-charge for the following six months. This process would later influence my approach to the Bloodhoney* project."
"During my travels around the film festival circuit, I met old friends ? some of whom I hadn?t seen in many years. Many were rooted in a 9-5 existence, living highly structured, stressful lives. They rarely, if ever, engaged in creative or artistic endeavors. Instead of going to a coffee shop, I proposed that they take a day off, pick a place that has meaning to them, and choose clothes in which they feel like themselves. That was the starting point. From there the idea was to improvise; spontaneity was to be at the heart of the process."
"Initially, my friends asked me to give them instructions and sometimes wondered what they were doing there, feeling bored or frustrated. Slowly, their minds began to let go, and they started doing what they felt like: jumping, climbing, wielding props, and taking risks. It felt almost like a return to childhood, physicality took over and the camera was there to capture the energy of the moment, telling a story."
"These "s?ances" sometimes went on for 10-15 hours. They included long hikes through mountains, head-on collisions with hail and snow, walks through swamps and lakes, and quite a few mosquito bites and bruises."
"The experience of the day was most important, not the resulting images. You could never predict what would come of it, and the idea was to let go and let things come together by circumstance. This is very opposite of the notions of safety and caution that we are bombarded with by the current society. Although being in front of the camera while letting go may seem uncomfortable, after these "s?ances," just about every subject wanted to keep going or do it again. Each shoot was its own unique adventure. The rush of adrenaline and the feeling of being a child again, uninhibited no matter how silly or dangerous, proved to be liberating."
"I called the project "Bloodhoney" in reference to the Balkans, the region I am from. It is a combination of two Turkish words: Bal, meaning ?honey? and Kan, meaning ?blood.? The name refers to the bittersweet nature of life, the moments of beauty and the sublime spontaneously captured in the photographs."
About the author: A filmmaker by trade, Harun Mehmedinovic took up photography as a hobby during his road trips across America. Years later, his project Bloodhoney* became one of the most successful Kickstarter photography campaigns of all time. Harun?s photographs have been featured by Vogue Italia and the L.A. Times & have been a subject of a TEDx Talk.
Prior to Harun?s venture into photography, his film In the Name of the Son premiered at Telluride Film Festival and won over thirty international awards including Shanghai, Savannah, and Cleveland film festivals. It was the first live action short film to receive an exclusive screening for the members of United States congress on Capitol Hill.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied screenwriting and theater directing, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Directing from the American Film Institute. Learn more at www.bloodhoney.com.
Admission/Cost: FREE
Location:
Warwick's
7812 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
Thursday, November 7 - 7:30 PM
For more information,please visit: warwicks.indiebound.com
S?ance is a coffee table book of photographs and stories of people who escaped their daily lives and went on an adventure.
Harun Mehmedinovic on the Bloodhoney* Project: "I began taking photographs as a hobby ten years ago, during my studies at UCLA. Twice a year I would drive from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. and back, along Route 40, photographing landscapes. It was a way to disconnect from the daily grind, have a rare moment of solitude, and re-charge for the following six months. This process would later influence my approach to the Bloodhoney* project."
"During my travels around the film festival circuit, I met old friends ? some of whom I hadn?t seen in many years. Many were rooted in a 9-5 existence, living highly structured, stressful lives. They rarely, if ever, engaged in creative or artistic endeavors. Instead of going to a coffee shop, I proposed that they take a day off, pick a place that has meaning to them, and choose clothes in which they feel like themselves. That was the starting point. From there the idea was to improvise; spontaneity was to be at the heart of the process."
"Initially, my friends asked me to give them instructions and sometimes wondered what they were doing there, feeling bored or frustrated. Slowly, their minds began to let go, and they started doing what they felt like: jumping, climbing, wielding props, and taking risks. It felt almost like a return to childhood, physicality took over and the camera was there to capture the energy of the moment, telling a story."
"These "s?ances" sometimes went on for 10-15 hours. They included long hikes through mountains, head-on collisions with hail and snow, walks through swamps and lakes, and quite a few mosquito bites and bruises."
"The experience of the day was most important, not the resulting images. You could never predict what would come of it, and the idea was to let go and let things come together by circumstance. This is very opposite of the notions of safety and caution that we are bombarded with by the current society. Although being in front of the camera while letting go may seem uncomfortable, after these "s?ances," just about every subject wanted to keep going or do it again. Each shoot was its own unique adventure. The rush of adrenaline and the feeling of being a child again, uninhibited no matter how silly or dangerous, proved to be liberating."
"I called the project "Bloodhoney" in reference to the Balkans, the region I am from. It is a combination of two Turkish words: Bal, meaning ?honey? and Kan, meaning ?blood.? The name refers to the bittersweet nature of life, the moments of beauty and the sublime spontaneously captured in the photographs."
About the author: A filmmaker by trade, Harun Mehmedinovic took up photography as a hobby during his road trips across America. Years later, his project Bloodhoney* became one of the most successful Kickstarter photography campaigns of all time. Harun?s photographs have been featured by Vogue Italia and the L.A. Times & have been a subject of a TEDx Talk.
Prior to Harun?s venture into photography, his film In the Name of the Son premiered at Telluride Film Festival and won over thirty international awards including Shanghai, Savannah, and Cleveland film festivals. It was the first live action short film to receive an exclusive screening for the members of United States congress on Capitol Hill.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied screenwriting and theater directing, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Directing from the American Film Institute. Learn more at www.bloodhoney.com.
Admission/Cost: FREE
Location:
Warwick's
7812 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
Thursday, November 7 - 7:30 PM
For more information,please visit: warwicks.indiebound.com
