Photobook prototype
142 pages, colour and black and white, 18×18 cm
“Orpheus,” she cried, “we are ruined, you and I!
What utter madness is this? See, once again
The cruel fates are calling me back and darkness
Falls on my swimming eye. Goodbye forever.
I am borne away wrapped in an endless night,
Stretching to you, no longer yours,
These hands, these helpless hands.
(Virgil, The Georgics)
Orpheus’s limbs and body scattered in Thrace, torn by the Thracian women because he rejected their love. His head and lyre took leave of his hometown, carried by the river Herbus, found their final refuge in the island of Lesbos.
Dead, Orpheus returns – for the second and final time – to the Underworld where he is once again reunited with his wife, Eurydice. This time nothing prevents him from looking back at her.
Looking Back maps a voyage in Lesbos, where many still face their final refuge – dead or alive – in the pursue of dreams for a safer life.
