They Never Update the Lists

After the Czech Embassy offered me the opportunity to exhibit my photography as a part of the festival of Mutual Inspirations, which is dedicated to Franz Kafka, I intended to make arrangements to travel to Prague to take pictures for this show. I started thinking about places and scenes in Prague that would capture the spirit of Franz Kafka. But then, I put the project on backburner for a bit, as I needed to prepare for another photography event. So, with Kafka at the back of my mind, I began going through the years of photographs I took in the past for that event. In the course of editing those photographs, it dawned on me that I didn’t need to go to Prague to take any more pictures. I had more than enough material for this show. Apparently, I have some Kafka in my DNA, at least as I view him. Somehow, I try to appreciate with my camera things that are seemingly obvious, but yet multilayered, absurd, and surreal. Which brings me to the story that gave me the idea for the name of this exhibition. It’s a story that I think Kafka would have appreciated. In 1980s, when I lived in Prague, I worked as a freelance interpreter. I got a job assisting a Swedish writer who was writing a book about Prague. One chapter of his book was dedicated to Franz Kafka, and as part of his research, we went to the insurance company where Kafka had worked. I asked the watchman on duty where Dr. Franz Kafka’s office was. (These days, such people are described as receptionists, but the title “watchman“ befits the spirit of Kafka much better.) The watchman checked one list and then another. He asked me to repeat the name, and checked his lists again. Finally, he told me in exasperation: “You’ll need to go upstairs and ask them where he sits. I can’t put up with this place much longer. They never update the lists!”