The Art of DISAPPEARING

In the classical proposal, indigenous people are usually the topic of discussion, but rarely do they have a hand in shaping it.

- Harry Fisch

"There is, of course, a personal and direct involvement in the places that I later depict but(and) my artistic practice involves researching into historical archives looking for testimonials from other visitors, narratives, legal documentation, media that is deconstructed in order to re-build another reality that is linked to visual emotions and the narrative of images, objects, and graphics." - HARRY FISCH

"The Art of Disappearing tries to bring awareness of the languid evanescence of the Arbore tribe in Ethiopia, where their last 2,300 members are currently living. Modernizing roads and easier access for visitors are changing their way of life. Cultural disappearance is brought about by changes in the traditional way of life, from the means of transportation to the pollution of modern lifestyles."

The Arbore are being relocated. My goal is to delve into the other side of the mirror, to try to understand what it reflects and how we are interpreted by "the other" when he switches from being observed to being an observer. I started the first photographs of this series in 2015 and returned two years later to that same tribe to continue with it. Before and after, I have been visiting different tribes. Initially, it was mainly an aesthetic interest -the Arbore are people of a balanced beauty and their way of life began to attract my attention. Some conversations through a translator made that first curiosity turn into a cultural interest and, after some research, into a desire to share what I have seen and, even more, what I would like to see there in the future.

Old Arbore man who lost his lady on a cliff with a reflection.

Young Arbore man with a reflection.

Arbore man with a red shirt.

Old Arbore couple.