PIPE & TURPENTINE 

The fantastic has a long-standing tradition within European culture, reflecting humanity’s deep-seated yearning for the supernatural and its underlying fears of the unknown. It raises fundamental questions about identity and the order of the world, while also processing collective experiences of trauma and injury. In the photographic series Dogra Magra, inspired by Todorov’s concept of the fantastic, the central focus lies on the ‘moment of hesitation’ – a pause between the natural and the supernatural, which leaves the viewer in a state of uncertainty. The fantastic is not the antithesis of reality, but rather its mirror image: an expansion of the real that compels the viewer to question their habitual perceptions. Through non-linear narrative structures and ambiguous spaces, the understanding of reality is continuously challenged. These photographs capture the tension between the real and the unreal, inviting the viewer to step into the liminal space of the fantastic, where uncertainty finds its most potent expression.