Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann

Filmmaker Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann discusses her artistic processes with Lindiwe Dovey.

Montage from New Moon (2018)

“I want to say words that flame as I say them, but I keep quiet and don't try to make both worlds fit in one mouthful. I keep secret in myself an Egypt that does not exist. Is that good or bad? I don't know. For years I gave away sexual love with my eyes. Now I don't. I am not in any one place. I do not have a name for what I give away. Whatever Shams gave, that you can have from me.”

clothes hang out of them like loose tongues; limp, disgruntled.

tired.

Neukölln, Berlin, July 2019

Christina, Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin, July 2019

“I used to want buyers for my words. Now I wish someone would buy me away from words. I have made a lot of charmingly profound images, scenes with Abraham and Abraham's father, Azar, who was famous for making icons. I am so tired of what I have been doing. Then one image without form came and I quit. Look for someone else to tend the shop. I am out of the image-making business. Finally I know the freedom of madness. A random image arrives. I scream, Get out! It disintegrates. Only love. Only the holder the flag fits into. No flag.” - Rumi 

like a heart in love with a faraway one.

but by our losses. 

Enlarging Black and White Analogue Photography, I find to be, a magical and spiritual experience. Working in the darkness and the stillness is sooooo meditative. It’s so calming being forced to slow down and partake in the process, there is no way you can expedite it. So many things in life you can accelerate but not this. Watching the image appear onto the page as it floats in the water is so incredible, you believe the image may never come, gone forever, you got it wrong, then slowly, slowly a bit of gray appears, shapes start to form like a memory, like a moment, like love, like pain, it slowly etches itself onto the paper making a mark forever.

Work in Progress