Antarabhava (“In-Betweenness”). 2019-present. The Buddhist terms indicates a state
of transformation, in-betweenness, and blurriness. Linked to both life and death,
regression and growth, it depicts the spaceless and timeless gap between the no-longer
and the yet-to-be. These are photos that I started putting together during the first
lockdown. Liminality and in-betweenness were felt at a personal and collective level –
indeed, we were all living in uncertainty, trying to stay in equilibrium between a frenetic
past and a slow-paced present. I was drawn to fully dedicate myself to something I’ve
been experiencing and found attraction to: life in death and death in life. I was drawn to
look at the ephemeral and witness the co-existence of the two states, that in Eastern
philosophy are complementary – and so believe I. At a time when death seemed to be
more alive than ever, I felt the need to delve into the search for the trace of animate
things, alive and dead – back and forth between the death and the living, which is what
photography is about (this co-existence). These are silent pictures that break the rumour
made by all the pictures taken everyday. “When the world was young images were
strong” once said Frederick Sommer. These are pictures that aim to nurture togetherness

in the act of meditating and imagining all the possible futures, yet presents, in the in-
between.

All images ©Ilaria Sponda