Typhoon Blues by Tom Kondrat

'typhoon blues' project - photographs taken just before the typhoon.

'Since I moved to Taiwan a year ago I found typhoons very intriguing. I've never experienced them while living in Europe (obviously) and all the tv news and stories I heard made them even more mysterious and at the same time exciting for me. So when the first typhoon in the season hit Taiwan this year, I decided to experience it with my camera.
There is kind of eerie type of calm before typhoon and at the same time lots of things are happening. There are crazy dogs running around like on drugs, stressed fishermen having last few moments to secure their boats and nets, random people observing the sea or taking few snapshots of the waves and the coast guards trying to move them away from the danger zones secured by the 'crime scene – do not pass' style tapes. The strong wind, heavy waves, the smell and the sound of the sea, and the constant feeling of danger make this time really special for me. And in the middle of all this, there is this ever present stillness – so hard to notice in everyday life.'--Tom Kondrat

「typhoon blues」是一系列颱風來臨前夕的攝影作品。攝影師Tom Kondrat一年前搬到台灣,在那之前,他只在電視和故事中聽說過颱風。對生活在歐洲、從未經歷過颱風的他而言,颱風顯得更為神秘,帶有某種奇幻色彩。所以在當季颱風首次侵襲台灣之際,他決定以相機去體驗之。

颱風來臨前的平靜顯得森然,似乎有什麼不尋常的因子在空氣中醞釀。鏡頭捕捉了如嗑藥般著魔亂竄的狗群、神色緊繃地把握最後時間確保船隻和漁網安全的漁夫、在海岸邊觀浪的人群和試圖將他們勸離封鎖線外的警衛……狂風、巨浪、海洋的氣味聲響以及危險的知覺,構成了Tom Kondrat的奇特時光。而這一切的核心,是一種在日常生活中難以察覺的恆久寂靜。