Out-and-Out (Ecstasies)

Depicting ecstasy—that highly personal and intimate moment of human abandonment—is what Swiss photographer Istvan Balogh sets out to achieve in his series Out-and-Out (ecstasies), produced in 2002. The aim is to suggest and show this state of rapture, whether contemplative or mystical. How can this sense of being transported “outside of” oneself be conveyed? How can the photographer successfully portray the impalpable, this annihilation of consciousness, the human sentiment in its deepest and most complex incarnation? By approaching the figure of ecstasy via photographic images, Balogh is exploring the relationship to reality that photography has continued to challenge ever since its inception. He touches upon photographic history. Does the photographer really need to go in search of the famous decisive moment advocated by Henri-Cartier Bresson? Is interpretation able to override reality?
Stéphanie Jamet-Chavigny