Remains of the Day

Canadian-American photographer Robert Polidori, known for images that record an imprint of both the past and the present within the confines of a single frame, spoke to us about the cyclical nature of time and the traces of human experiences hidden deep within

- Vani Sriranganayaki

I once walked into a room with an alcove that could only be accessed with a trapeze that hung from the ceiling. The room also came with punctured walls patched up with tape, a bunch of expired passports from different countries and half a couch that was propped up with books. Too many questions, I know. I would start with the missing ladder! It is easily overlooked, as we spend most of our lives walking in and out of them, but rooms often carry stories. They may be made up, like the story of the down-on-his-luck, shady trapeze artist who enjoyed the odd challenge added to his daily routine; but they all carry with them traces of actual lives spent, well, walking in and out of those rooms. For Canadian-American photographer Robert Polidori, those traces hold the key. Famous for his large-scale colour images of architecture, urban environments and interiors, Polidori creates works that place the temporality of human experiences within the seemingly permanent nature of its surroundings. He does this while rarely ever capturing people. ‘One of the things that I find captivating about photography is how a surface can have many traces of time. I think that the destiny of photography is to trace time. It comes from the nature of the Camera Obscura. It uses the laws of physics to trace the physical resemblances of things. It’s medium-mystic for me. I don’t consider myself a creator. I consider myself a medium. I’m at my best when I am channelling important sites or moments. I let myself be drawn in by signs. So it’s a psychic thing. And I love that. It’s like surfing on time,’ he said over a telephonic conversation where we spoke at length about our capacity to remember and forget, our movements through time and the traces we leave behind in the rooms we inhabit.

Excerpts from the conversation