The Pastel photo series is inspired by the pastel as an art medium. These images are created with long shutter speed: to add movement to still objects and scenes. The vagueness and softness of lines, faded shapes and mixing colors do not only remind me of pastel but also look a lot like my own blurry vision without glasses or lenses (I belong to a huge group of people with both myopia and astigmatism).

Impressionist paintings are sometimes linked to the “short-sighted” way of seeing the world, a way that allows to sooth the world’s imperfections. There is an anecdote that when Paul Cézanne was offered a pair of glasses to aid his weakening sight, he asked to “take these vulgar things away”. Apparently, too much sharp detail would distract the artist from his concept.

To me, though, the softness of the Pastel images is primarily about peering into the poetic side of the visible reality, its inherent vibrant energy.