Lucia Sekerková
Between the iPhone and the Crystal Ball

Photographer Lucia Sekerková and ethnologist Ivana Šusterová tried to link photographic work with ethnological research. For the past four years, they have been working on the suggestive theme of Romanian women from the group of Olah Roma who make their living at fortune-telling and witchcraft activities. In recent years, interest in these services, within Romanian society, has risen again. This topic is the subject of lively discussion in Romanian households, the media and also police reports. The authors have summarized their work in a double-book, consisting of a photographic part and an essay, and they are trying to gain financial support for its publication at Hithit.cz.

Taking pictures of Roma has a strong tradition in Czech and Slovak photography. But the world of fortune-tellers and witches has not yet been noticed. The author chooses different means of expression - she takes pictures in colour and openly admits a certain degree of staging, since there is a great deal of suggestiveness and influence on the client's emotions during these fortune-teller rituals. Lucia Sekerková catches these fortune-tellers in a special disunity between Christianity and Paganism, as well as, between the old and the new world, magic and the Internet. This project was created in close cooperation with ethnological research, so the photographer is sometimes analytically factual, conducting a sharp cut through the magical rituals, mercilessly illuminating them with a powerful flash during moments full of secrets, looking closely at the fortune-tellers under their gaze. Lucia Sekerková does not tell us whether she believes in the magical power of these women. She managed to penetrate into their environment for a while, to be present at their rituals, perhaps to become a part of their marketing and media practices for a moment, and to bring an interesting perspective to the unforgettable moments she had experienced there.

Tomáš Pospěch