Histoire de ma vie racontée par mes photographies

A film or documentary is often called personal, but in the case of the films by Boris Lehman the word personal really means one hundred percent personal. Both in front of and behind the camera, Lehman’s films are inculcated with Lehman. If he was able, he would put himself through the projector. More personal than Lehman is just not possible. Lehman is synonymous with personal. And, of course, without meaning this in any pejorative sense, narcissistic. Lehman looks at himself and at himself looking.Lehman saves everything which has anything to do with his person and his personal life. Nothing can be lost. Certainly not the hundreds of thousands of photos he has taken, but not even the hairs from his brush, that he meticulously saves in bags. Through many photographs, he tells the story and allows his story to be told by those photographed. This is where the brilliant documentary reversal takes place. It becomes apparent that the collection of photos is primarily a collection of people people who remember the photographer/film maker and therefore form a phenomenal human archive. A complete universe in a personal photo collection, or if you like, a collection of hairs.