Legenda
Legenda, 2012. Photography
The project was part of a work residency in Malaysia, which included teaching and living at the university campus of Linton College, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during the summer 2012.
Legendais an imaginary and constructed documentary piece about the university campus life and the students who live there during their studies. Fiction and reality mix together, creating a mysterious ‘aura’, which appears like a mist floating through the images. This is used as a metaphor for how the environment and atmosphere seems to pervade, influencing the people living in it.
The university campus is located in a small village called Mantin, near Kuala Lumpur, quite isolated and jaded. Although it was claimed that around 5000 students lived and studied there, the place seemed to be quite empty and desolate. It was during the month of Ramadan. The images were taken late in the afternoon, as it was only at that time that people would venture out.
The place always struck me as being ‘uncanny’ and mysterious. It seemed to be held in time, almost forgotten, poetic yet eerie. The environment seemed to have trapped the people living there. They were hanging around, as if waiting for something to happen. Even the landscape was in limbo.