Name and surname: Luka Rep
Title: Samo-nadzor / Self-control
Year: 2022
Tehnique: Serija fotografij / Photo series
Dimensions: 2 x 3 m
The emergence of video surveillance in public space is not a new concept, but it is taking on new dimensions with the increased number of both municipal and private video surveillance cameras. Despite the low security risk assessment in Slovenia, the state uses increasing surveillance of citizens, with the development of new technologies increasing efficiency, while the implementation itself is becoming less and less transparent. By changing the legislation, where the repressive authorities gain ever-increasing powers, comes under the pretext of protecting people and property, leading to the loss of the constitutional right to privacy. Since operations in this area are not yet fully regulated, as the obtained data are subject to the own judgment of the person who manages them, so you can be unprotected and subject to abuse. The exhibited self-portraits are a selection of surveillance camera footage that the author encounters on his daily journey from home to college. The author Luka Rep faces the video camera that controls him with his cameras, which partially obscures his face and thus his identity. Despite the awareness that he is being observed, he opposes this with the gesture of photographing the camera, as the control is mutual. Because, in addition to its obvious function of identification, control also works by creating the feeling that we are always being watched, that we consciously or unconsciously control or self-control our behavior, as the play on the title of the work suggests, which at the same time points out that no control is self-control.
