In my past life, in my last decade, I worked with photographs rather than words, as a Photo Editor. I started out learning that there was a visual language in images and a story being told in each photograph that when combined with others, created something akin to a visual novel. We look for clues in the faces, the subtle arches of brows, the scars or wrinkles that press into the skin, the upward or downward turn of lips. Or the way the light hits a wall at night, the objects scattered on a table, the slip of a bra strap from beneath a dress, the way one hand touches another. Stories are imagined from these details.
Much of what goes into the writing of a work of fiction, whether drawn from a historical event, set in a particular place or time, or just influenced by a real-life person, involves great research in archives for images and text to help recreate an authentic world. Photographs, music, oral histories, and accounts, all chip in to supply not only facts but a mood, a feeling, an atmosphere. Author Aleksander Hemon has given us a chance to peek into this world of research from his new novel, The Lazarus Project, through a website that brings together photographs from the Chicago Historical Society and Sarajevo-born photographer Velibor Bozovic and words taken from the book. This union creates a version of the novel that is both a visual and written interpretation—it's a mysterious, shadowy, beautiful piece of work.
Navigate the website here or watch the slideshow below:
The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon with Velibor Bozovic from Book Videos on Vimeo.
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