Marika Majorová - Streetstyle like streetart
Good evening, can you hear me?
Noooo.
Okay.
I'm asking you, because I was told,
that my clothes don't match these microphone requirements.
I'll try to talk this way, ok?
I remember how...
The clothes are good!
Thanks, thanks.
I remember how I was sitting in the audience last year at the 1st TEDx Bratislava. Completely fascinated, I was absorbing all of these ideas, thoughts, topics,
which were flowing at me.
And, of course, I spent hours clicking on various TED videos,
and, one of my favorite ones, Ken Robinson has already been mentioned here,
and, also his video about how schools allegedly kill creativity.
That's also my favorite video,
because he said in there an interesting thing
that all kids are born as artists into this world,
that all of them are creative beings.
However, the process of maturing and even schools themselves somehow
gradually attenuate them
until, ultimately, they choose to take a different path.
I had experienced a little story in London,
which nicely links with this video
or, it accentuates its message.
And, during my career as a nanny in various countries
I had observed, with a lot of interest, new educational methods,
which I didn't know about until then, as well as what was that parents had applied, as far as education on these kids.
And I was a part of one lovely English family,
With a 3-year old daughter Laura.
Laura was attending a pre-school and she was absolutely free to choose what she wanted to wear in the morning,
which, in reality meant that one morning she stepped out the door as a princess
with a crown on her head and dressed up in a long dress, because that day she felt like a princess.
Next day, a little goblin came out of the door,
a tomboy, colorful rain boots, a cap.
On the third day, she went to pre-school as a fairy,
with her fairy magic wand, and little wings,
and, nobody told her that a fairy can only be at masquerade,
or I didn't hear her mom telling her “You can’t go dressed like this,
what will the neighbors think of me, right?”,
“That I am some sort of a wacky mom…” 0:02:25.031,0:02:28.492 And this expression of freedom,
I'm convinced that when this little woman has experienced at the age of three liberty and freedom
on such a completely basic level, with the clothes,
her relationship towards freedom will be demonstrated sometimes in the future,
and also in other different areas.
That said, she already has some ideas about
what freedom is, and I'm convinced
that she will perceive it with much more ease in other different areas.
And, this story happened in London, as I have already said,
and London is, for me personally, one of those different places,
where one can feel the freedom and the openness.
And not just because you can take a small case and bring it with you to Hyde Park,
and then you'll say what's in your heart at that moment,
But also because… As if people in London expressed their freedom to the outside world,
or as if they also show their openness through their clothes.
These pictures were taken in November last year,
and what I really like in London is,
that if you want, you can be dressed like a movie character,
or one can simply take all of these things
from grandma's closet, from barrettes to shoes
and can simply feel good in it.
You can showcase your minimalism, maximalism
or ‘why couldn't that guy have that beautiful deer over there?’
By the way, he reminds me of a British romantic comedy hero in this.
Or, simply someone who likes to be dressed in a historical outfit, because he feels like it.
Or even if you are not in England, but you live there, that kind of freedom can give you wings.
Another city I was exploring
because, in its own way, it's an expression of,
what is in the culture, and what is rooted in those people.
And this is only a somewhat superficial thing,
but one can observe it really nicely.
Paris, on the other hand, is a place where one can feel,
or at least, I feel the history,
a historical relationship linked with esthetics, with a clothing industry,
with the fact that less is sometimes more, and that there's a beauty in simplicity
and that one can really feel elegance on the street.
Or that less is really more and a natural beauty is that what,
what is interesting.
And, the creativity that comes out of these people.
And it even starts from an early age.
And also, for example, if you're not French, but you live in Paris,
it can influence you.
The city itself or the spirit, which the city breathes in,
what the people over there create.
The third example is New York, one of my favorite cities.
These photos are from June 2010 and
New York, on the other hand, is a city where everything happens on the street.
Those streets are huge, people mix in over there and it's simply an urban jungle,
where these people need to make it.
And ideally, when you wear something extreme, extravagant,
hair, tatoo, variety of styles,
Simply, these people need to go their own way
and to be different.
It doesn't matter what’s one’s nationality, race, or sex.
Sunday morning in Harlem.
After this, in my view, a quite natural and logical question comes to mind,
which is „ And how about us?“ I mean us, in Bratislava.
That's what I started to look into a little bit
when I established my blog a year ago and started to take streetstyle photos.
Now, a quick technical digression regarding what actually is freestyle photography.
It is a photographic discipline,
I haven't found another, better definition.
I have come up with this one - that creation of photography is stimulated by a visualelement,
by something interesting, by some expression of a person that you meet on the street.
A person inspires a photographer to take the camera,
to shoot a photo and a photo is done.
For example, I have a sample in here – photos of a similar style
can be found from Henry Cartier-Bresson or August Sander.
One can sense what catches the photographer's attention from a visual point of view at that moment.
That’s what the creation of that photo is based upon – for the most part, on the street.
Now, let’s go back - that’s the end of the technical digression.
So, let’s talk again about what is going on in Bratislava.
One of the reasons why I started to do this blog and to take photos of people was
that I had felt and I still feel,
that people around me were swearing at the city,
they were swearing at Bratislava, and overall in rather a negative tone,
that Bratislava is grey, ugly, boring, that people are uncreative, uninteresting,
that everybody frowns at everybody, that drivers honk their horns, that nobody is nice and kind,
and simply, that this is a bad city – expressively speaking.
Since we have been talking about these kids…
And I had that continuous feeling as if I have lived in a different world,
I simply felt that I was meeting inspiring people,
people who are inspiring, creative, beautiful, people who simply radiate,
and is worth taking a photo of them.
And I wanted to share this joy with other people.
And I was always happy when I met this type of people,
and I felt that the world should know that here too are the people
who are inspiring, creative, and with whom it is a pleasure to meet.
And so I started to take photos of Bratislava in a streetstyle.
Bratislava is a little village, so if you recognize someone on the photos,
it will not surprise me at all.
These are photos from the year I started to take photos in Bratislava.
And I really felt that there is a bunch of people
who are worth taking photos of… From various areas -
whether they are little or big, whether they are little or big...
And during the time I was shooting this streetstyle,
I came up with several findings.
My first finding - everything is the other way around.
“The man makes the clothes.”
There is a saying that “clothes make the man”.
My finding is that it isn't true at all; it is absolutely the other way around.
It's true that the first impulse to take a streetstyle photo
can be a colorful combination, it can be a shadow, clothes,
or simply me running behind that person, crossing the street.
But I also found out that if a person doesn't radiate something out,
and one doesn’t feel a creativity and freedom, then the photo doesn't have its effect.
You simply will take a photo of that person -
motivation is primary,
But, if the person doesn’t have it
Because, beauty comes from the inside out, and all the art,
it simply won’t work.
I have photos as proof where you primarily don't see clothes, where people only are being seen.
These photos are portraits and I sense
that a beauty and a freedom of a human being are seen.
So, one doesn’t see the clothes.
Therefore, what it means to me is that a man makes clothes and not the other way around.
The second finding is that the street is an art gallery and we are artists.
And this is a concept I like very much, because it is absolutely applicable.
When you think about it, the street really is a sort of an art gallery.
Architecture is part.
It is nature. Our means of transportation are it.
The things that we build are it, the things that we put on the street are it,
however, emotions, which we send out through our facial expressions are also a part of it.
When we smile or frown at someone - all of that is a part of the street.
And we all are these artists who create a final impression.
I don't know how about you, but when I travel…
In some cities people visit just the monuments,
but for me, people make that city,
which means, at least for me, that it is more defining who I meet with,
what people I talk to, what impact they have on me,
rather than whether there's a good pizzeria around the corner, or whether the cathedral is so impressive.
As for me, people define, just like us here in Bratislava.
All the people who come to Bratislava,
form their opinion according to the city. And we all are artists,
and the best part about it is that it doesn't really matter what your profession is,
because we all were at some point those kids and those artists.
Whether it's Saška for example, who followed her dream and there is something artistic inside of her,
and she is a part of a streetart and some art gallery,
or whether it's someone who is indeed an artist like a female painter,
or whether it's a female lawyer and a female activist for animal rights,
or whether it’s a restaurant owner or a man who works in a bank
or whether it is a lady retiree taking her walk at the castle.
It really doesn't matter what your profession, skin, bank account, teeth, or whatever else is.
In essence - you create it.
For example, this old lady whispered to me with a lot of joy,
that she bought her wonderful checkered coat in a second-hand store.
But it's fantastic!
The third finding was
that in order to create the future, one needs to know the past.
It does not come from my head, it is a general rule.
But I felt that a negative emotion is also created by the fact
that creativity has been oppressed for many years,
it has been concealed by the uniformity of Formica partitions,
living room furniture, polyester clothes… we were all the same.
And, it sort of deforms people a little bit. But I was sure that somewhere in the past…
that we all have photos in our family albums, which prove
that our ancestors… that we have a relationship with esthetics.
So I asked, or I should say invited readers of my blog
to go through the family photo albums
and to send me photos together with a story of the people on them,
which only proves that such esthetical perception had existed.
I received a large number of photos; there is a description for each photo.
This is Ms. Jelena with her husband, Prešov, 1962.
I have no clue at all when these type of hats were worn by the college graduates,
where did this tradition come from… I haven't seen that - it surprised me.
This is from the '60s.
Prievidza, the '70s, Jarmila.
This is a theater actress, Joja from Prešov, the 50's.
A beautiful photo.
What fascinates me is that on these photos
one can feel the artistic value of the photography.
This is Laco, the '50s as well.
A family photo from '68.
Sielnica, ‘61.
Matilda.
The only color photo that came to the entire competition.
These are my parents.
Bratislava 1974.
I'm sure that if you…Sorry.
I'm sure if you were to go through your family albums,
you would find such beautiful old black and white photos,
where you could see that a grandma sewed this,
and that this was created over there and that this comes from over there
and that this was sent to us from America.
You would find treasures there. And perhaps during
your talk about the photos,
you'll find out about things you didn’t have a clue.
Through this photo of my parents, I'd like to go back to the beginning of the story of the kid,
about Laura because I have a feeling that her story,
her story is exactly the topic featured at today’s TEDx event.
It is about freedom of expression…If we somewhere, at the beginning
take care of it and gives it space,
as far as freedom of expression and creativity is concerned,
then it'll, in the future, which we are creating now, show.
And we will see it.
And, I'm looking forward to this kind of future and I wish us good luck
and I’ve got my finger on the trigger…
Thank you.