PRESENCE OF ABSENCE (2024 — in progress)

Collaborative Digital Archive | Photography and Text

PRESENCE OF ABSENCE is a reimagining of communication within the void created by geographical and temporal distance. In the summer of 2024 my close friend Dasha moved to the United States leaving us on different continents and forcing us to find a new language for our friendship. Moving away from conventional real-time digital interaction we established a daily ritual: an asynchronous exchange of single photographs and brief text fragments.

What began as a practical necessity evolved into a deep investigation of how minimalist digital means can bridge vast distances. These daily snapshots — like shards of a diary — form a unique visual syntax that allows us to share intimate observations without the need for constant verbal dialogue. In an era of overwhelming digital noise the “silence” and the intervals between our messages became a valuable resource creating a meditative space for empathy and profound understanding.

The project also serves as a tool for self-reflection: by observing our dialogue from the outside we identified recurring patterns and emotional triggers in our own perception. PRESENCE OF ABSENCE is a testament to how human connection can overcome global fragmentation. It invites the viewer to reflect on how we might find new, quiet forms of proximity and intimacy in a world increasingly defined by displacement and 'digital dust'.