JAKOB HOLDT’S FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE by Roberto

Jakob’s depiction of life’s realities is thematically universal. Obviously it is summed up into the Christian teaching virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Regardless of time, space and people one can always relate at various levels. Unless one’s feeling is numb, he may see it as just one among the endless photo exhibits. However, I believe that there will always be a slight disturbance as you see them piece by piece. Without the text, first reaction would be a world of violence. But its picture stands alone, telling its own story with the thought of “what is the ending?” Artists’ popular cliché says that “life imitates art”. Conversely, other artists too would say “art imitates life”. But here Jakob Holdt merges the two schools of thoughts. We see life both in form and reality because Jacob himself was not only taking shots, he was literally part and involve in all the stories of his pictures. Like all stories, there are happy and sad endings but the virtues of faith, hope and love are redeeming values to understand that life is not always fair and that there is a constant struggle to find one’s own space within the spaces of others. And nobody can foresee what happens along the way. That is the sweet mystery of life!