Soul Catcher

Photography is a form of theft. Just one click and you take an impression of someone - and with that impression, a part of his or her identity. Is it any wonder, then, that members of some aboriginal tribes believed that they would lose their souls if they were photographed, meaning that they would not reincarnate in a new body? This belief forms the point of departure for a meditative reflection on how photography affects our innermost being. In this film, Finnish director P. V. Lehtinen shifts from one cinematic extreme to another: from total standstill to maximized movement. It starts off with portraits of white sunbathers on the beach taking on well-considered poses to be frozen in time by the camera. And then, as if plunging into a black hole, we pass through to the other side of the lens. There, we come face to face with threatening-looking aborigines. Has the camera already taken their souls? Back on the beach, the sunbathers face a similar fate, and their souls evaporate with the clouds in fast motion. Or so it seems, at least, because this extended video clip - with metaphysical soundscapes by the veteran ambient group Biosphere - leaves plenty of room for personal interpretation and imagination. And just as in a photograph that never fully captures our essence, mysteries remain.