The Guardians is a documentary project created by Vladimir Antaki. The artist is seeking to play a tribute to people known as “guardians of urban temples”. People who we meet on our way every day without even noticing their presence in our lives.
The project was born from the approach that every Londoner should be familiar with. We are always in a rush and are paying less attention to our environment. Having come to a realisation that people are constantly looking to find a way to “save time and money”, that occurs in a way we make relationships but also shop. Large supermarkets are more competitive to local products and so-called ‘corner shops’. Antaki believes that it people would continue to shop in covenant way those little places would disappear. That’s one of the fundamental reasons forms which the Guardians project was born.
So far, Antaki has visited 16 cities (Montreal, New York, Las Vegas, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Beirut, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Bordeaux, Marrakesh, Fes, Miami and Philadelphia) and met more than 300 Guardians.
Photographs are made to resemble the moment when he first meets the owner and he tries to capture the aura of the place and Guardians personality, Antaki is interested in the relationship between the environment and the attitude of the Guardians. He acts as a director of their universe and shows them their day to day life through his eye and his camera.
Antaki’s approach is to find the magic of the visited place, sometimes overloaded with colours and elements. He seeks to find stories behind guarded shop door, no matter if they are touching, funny, quirky, and at times frightening. Realising that those taken photos might often become to be the only memory that certain Guardian will have from this day in his daily environment, give a melancholic touch to the whole project.
To find out more visit Vladimir Antaki website https://www.behance.net/gallery/15923175/The-Guardians
