Eliska Svrlanska
Toyotas and cigarettes
Ellie Svrlanska is a Czech born documentary photographer currently based in the UK, finishing her last year of BA Photography at the University of Portsmouth. Her enthusiasm for slow travel and exploration of diverse cultures, profoundly influences the themes and concepts in her documentary photojournalism. Understanding and learning about different lifestyles is among her passions. She employs ethical methods by immersing herself in the cultures she documents, by researching their history, experiencing their daily life, and respectfully engaging with their customs. She is purposefully using photography as a tool for connection and comprehension alongside observation and documentation.
The Wadi Rum desert is a testimony to centuries of nomadic Bedouin living. This remote and frequently romanticised lifestyle, coupled with the enigmatic attraction and beauty of the desert itself, has caught the gaze of tourism. ‘Toyotas and cigarettes’ is an ongoing documentary project in Wadi Rum, Jordan exploring the evolving bedouin identity in modern times. Through the use of photography Ellie examines daily life of the bedouin in contemporary times and how modernity and tourism have affected their customs, the impact on people’s lives and identity.
Svrlanska's work is influenced by the relationships that she establishes with her subjects by residing with them and taking part in their everyday lives. She feels that conversation and collaboration could constitute an artistic undertaking in which the photographer becomes a student of the culture and its people, eager to learn, understand and share.