The War Issue

When Guillaume Ferrand, editor of Veine Magazine approached me about being included in The War Issue, I actually thought he had the wrong photographer. Perhaps he was looking for James Nachtwey?
What transpired was an insightful interview that opened my eyes for sure. Here is a chunk to give you a taste of what he is up to:

-------------------------------------------------------

GF : For me, this project fits with the theme of war, because of the way you decided to represent your relationship with your son. Is it a fair point of view?

TA : War is a powerful metaphor, and surprisingly I feel it is accurate. War is a broken relationship, one where each party is certainly not harmonizing with the other. Was I at war with my son? Well, that sounds more like a place you 'd find yourself in with a teenager. But I 'd agree that he and I were not understanding each other, and this was our attempt to have that understanding.

Really, I don 't care about autism. I 'm not interested in it at all, but it is the fuel that really fueled this project. What I do care greatly about is the power of relationships. For whatever reason photography here worked as the bridge to let us understand each other, learn about each other, and suddenly, due to the very democratic nature of a camera, we could work as peers together.

GF: Did you want to show the beauty that all those moments can bring ?

TA: I was one who always said that raising kids is totally impossible for me. But just because it's hard doesn't mean I don't like it. ECHOLILIA shows the tension and the struggle and the feeling that there is a channel he is on that I am not on, but I can see it and respect it and still look at him with love, but acknowledge our difference. So sure, the process of raising kids is filled with beautiful moments. But for these things to seem real, the beauty also has to have an acknowledgement of the struggle, the tension, the chaos as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read The War Issue HERE.