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How To Carry a Camera

artist talk | Yvon Teysslerová | 60 min
When I decided to become a camerawoman, I never considered whether I could handle such a job, whether I was too subtle, whether I could cope with a male team, or whether the camera was either physically or mentally out of reach for me. 𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 17 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. For me, the camera is, among other things, a craft that needs to be constantly trained, whether it is a physical or educational framework. I often think in my mind that a certain similarity can be a master in the glass factory. That’s not what glassmakers become overnight, either. So, it is necessary to persevere and work honestly. But the problem arises when you are a woman and you struggle with prejudice. These often don’t budge and build on my own experience that what kind of work you get is not so much up to you, but the willingness of others to accept that you can “carry” the camera as a woman. So, you find yourself in the grip of other people’s insecurities. I don’t like to take life too seriously, so our discussion about how much a camera „weighs“ and how its weight can fluctuate considerably over the years will be in a lighter tone.